Paper Mario: The Shadow Star Spirit
by Shy Guy Red
Summary: A Shadow Star Spirit has been unleashed, and Mario must once again set out to save the world. Now he and Bowser battle to collect the Shadow Star Spirit Pieces, but there appear to be secrets to this adventure! FINISHED! Sequel coming? PLZ REVIEW!
1. Prologue: The Road to a New Adventure

I do not own any of the Mario characters and they are owned by Nintendo and Intelligent Systems

(When Mario says that means he's saying something like in the Paper Mario games, you just don't know what he's saying.)

**Paper Mario: The Shadow Star Spirit**

It was a normal day at the Mario house. After defeating Bowser and the Star Rod, Mario was taking a long rest. Luigi was shopping. Just then, Parakarry flew to the house and put a letter in the mail box.

"Mail Call!"

Mario walked outside to the mailbox as Parakarry flew away. He took the letter and walked inside. He opened it up to read it:

Dear Mario,

We are in a time of crisis old boy and your help is greatly needed. The Princess has been kidnapped by Bowser and we need your help!!

From

Toadsworth

"Oh!" said Mario.

Mario quickly walked outside of his house and started to run toward the warp pipe that led to the Mushroom Kingdom. Just then-

"Hold it right there Mario!"

"!" said Mario as he looked around.

All 4 koopa bros jumped out in front of Mario. They stuck their thumbs up and their thumbs sparkled.

"Here come the Koopa Bros!" said Red, "All right Mario, give us your Shadow Star Spirit piece right now!"

"… ?"

"WHAT!? We're not falling for that "What's a Shadow Star Spirit piece" stuff Mario, now tell us, where is it!"

"?"

"All right then fine, if that's the way you want to play then we'll just have to take it. Black, Yellow, and Green, go into Mario's house and search everywhere for that piece."

"Right Red," said Black as the 3 charged inside.

Mario started to go inside when-

"Hold it Mario, your fight is with me."

**BATTLE!**

Red went into his shell and charged at Mario. Mario jumped and countered the attack by landing on Red. Red flipped over on his shell. Mario powered up and did a super jump to KO Red in 1 hit.

"Ugh…."

Mario jumped and smiled. Then he started to run into his house when the other koopa bros ran by him.

"Red, are you okay?"

"I'll be fine as long as you guys got the Shadow Star Spirit piece."

"uh….red….about that."

"What Happened!?"

"Well you see Red," said Yellow, "We searched high and low but we found no Shadow Star Spirit piece anywhere."

"WHAT! Mario! Where is it!!"

"?"

"AGH!! This is Unbelievable!"

"Hey bro! I'm back!"

"!"

Luigi came out of the warp pipe to the Mushroom Kingdom.

"um…what's going on here?"

Red jumped on the pipe and grabbed Luigi.

"All right Mario, we'll give you back you're bro when you give us the Shadow Star Spirit piece."

"HELP!!"

"All right Mario, now we'll be lea"-

Just then a pipe popped up and Tutankoopa came out.

"Koopa bros, I found the location of the Shadow Star Spirit piece we were supposed to get. It's this way, follow me."

Tutankoopa went back into the pipe.

"…"

"ur…ok…we're still taking Luigi though. C'mon koopas, lets get that piece."

All the koopa bros went into the warp pipe. Mario quickly followed as questions filled his head. What were the koopa bros and Tutankoopa doing here? Why has Bowser kidnapped Peach, and what the heck is a Shadow Star Spirit piece?

**Prologue**

**The Road to a New Adventure**

Mario came out of the warp pipe to find himself in Goomba Village. He looked around and saw Goombario coming.

"Hey Mario! Long time no see! What's up?"

""

"Yah, they all ran down Goomba Road. The Red Koopa bro had Luigi. Why'd they have him?"

"?"

"A Shadow Star Spirit piece? I don't know what it is, but Goompa is researching on where they are. Maybe you could ask him about it."

""

"Well yah, I guess you're right. You can go to Goompa anytime, but the Koopa bros could get away and you need to catch them now. Although Mario, it's 5 against 1. Those aren't good odds. Could I come and help you, for old time's sake?"

"Oh yah!"

"All right, just like last time. It's time for another adventure."

**Goombario joined your team!**

Mario and Goombario ran down Goomba Road. They started going at a fast speed. They found the Koopa bros sooner then they expected.

"Man, why does Tutankoopa have to go so fast, now we lost him, and we have no idea where the Shadow Star Spirit is," said Red.

"Well, we got Luigi, so if Mario ever finds one, we can trade with him."

"Mario, they're stalling. Now is our chance to attack. I have an idea. I'll go distract them and try to knock Luigi free while you get him and get out of there," whispered Goombario.

"Hey!"

"?"

Twink flew down to the koopa bros

"Hey, what are you guys doing with Luigi?"

"If you must know, we're keeping Luigi until Mario gives us a Shadow Star Spirit piece."

"What? Mario doesn't have one of those. The nearest one is the one at Goomba Castle."

"Goomba Castle! Heh heh, thanks for telling us you wimpy little star."

"Wimpy! I'll have you know I beat Kammy koopa back when Mario beat Bowser."

"That was only because Peach was helping you. But now, you're alone and weak, and we're going to take you down!"

"All right then, come on!"

They started to battle.

"Mario, this is our chance. I'll help Twink in the battle while you get Luigi and get out of there. Ok? Ready…GO!"

Goombario ran over and started helping Twink. They got a small advantage.

"Argh, carrying Luigi has made me weak and tired," remarked Red, "Now that we know where the piece is, we don't need him. Be off with you!"

Red threw Luigi on the ground a little bit away. Luigi was in shock the whole time. Mario quickly ran over, grabbed Luigi, and ran into the next area hoping Twink and Goombario would win. Luigi awoke.

"Wow Mario, you saved me. Thanks a lot. But, what is happening?"

""

"What! Bowser kidnapped Peach again! And now the koopa bros are after a…Shadow Star Spirit piece? What is that?"

"?"

"Well, if there is one at Goomba Castle, we should try and get it. Hopefully by then, we'll know what the heck is happening. All right then, time for a New Adventure!"

**Luigi joined your team!**

"Oh yah Mario, do you have a hammer?"

""

"I thought so. Luckily, I got some when I was gone before those koopas snatched me. Here, you can have one. You remember how to use them right? Here, watch this."

Luigi showed Mario how to use the hammer.

"All right, now that we're ready, let's go!"

Mario jumped. Then the pair ran as fast as they could to Goomba Castle. Luckily for them there were no Goombas because Tutankoopa must have defeated them all. As they got real close, they heard a noise in a nearby bush.

"Do you think he's gone?"

"Pr-Pr-Probably. Man I hope we don't meet him again."

"Yah, he's real strong."

"Well, we have to go tell King Goomba before he gets hurt."

"Yah, ok, let's go."

Red and Blue Goomba then jumped out of nearby bushes.

"!" they both said.

"Mario! What are you doing here?"

""

"WHAT!? Why does everyone want that? Urgh…we won't let you take it. Come on Blue, let's defeat Mario once and for all."

"But last time Mario trounced us."

"Yah, but only because of that Goomba with the blue hat. Now it's just Mario and I think a green clone of him but it shouldn't be strong."

" I'm Luigi!!!! Mario's brother!"

"Oh…I've never heard of you."

"I didn't know Mario had a brother."

"sigh" said Luigi.

"Oh well, now we're gonna beat the stuffing out of you!"

**BATTLE!**

Red and Blue Goomba both charged at Mario. Red jumped at Mario. Mario dodged it and jumped on him. Then, the blue Goomba flew straight at Mario. Mario closed his eyes. POW! Blue Goomba went flying as Luigi smacked him with his hammer! He then hit Red and the 2 flew to the ground…defeated.

"Oww! You're still as strong as ever."

Blue and Red quickly jumped up.

"But Goomba King is stronger! You'll never defeat him!"

Red and Blue quickly ran to Goomba Castle. Mario and Luigi followed them.

At the Castle, Red and Blue Goomba ran to…2 castles!?

"Goomba King! Mario is coming!"

"For the shadow star spirit piece?" came a voice.

"Yah! And did an Egyptian Koopa come to take it?"

"Never seen anything like it," replied the voice.

Red and Blue Goomba looked at each other

"?"

Just then, Mario and Luigi came running in.

"Oh no! It's Mario! Goomba King! Help!"

The Goomba King came out of the big castle.

"So Mario, you've come for my Shadow Star Spirit piece. Well, it looks like a rematch between us is coming!"

""

"Yes, it may be true that Red and Blue won't be helping me in this battle, (Red and Blue are at the door to the big castle) but I know others who will!"

Goomba King whistled and suddenly 3 Goombas came out.

"Ha ha! Now die!"

**BATTLE!**

All 4 Goombas charged at the Mario Bros. Mario and Luigi jumped on the Goombas using special attacks to kill them easily. But they weren't watching Goomba King who disappeared. The two looked around. Suddenly, the Goomba King came falling out of a tree above them and slammed on Mario. He got up and Mario was very dizzy. Luigi ran up and hit the Goomba King with his hammer. Of course the Goomba King was so big that it barely hurt him. He turned around. Luigi ran away and hid behind a tree. The Goomba King turned around to find Mario barely standing holding his hammer. Mario looked up and saw coconuts. Remembering from his last battle, Mario hit the tree and coconuts fell on the Goomba King. Goomba King was dazed. Luigi (who just noticed this) ran up next to Mario. They both powered up their hammers and at the same time, they whacked him as hard as they could. He spun around in a hundred circles then fell to the ground defeated. Luigi then noticed a mushroom on the ground that fell out of the tree. He gave it to Mario to heal him.

"No! You've beat me again! Fine! Red and Blue! Go into the big castle and lock the door. Don't let either of them inside!"

"Right, come on blue."

"I'm afraid you won't be locking that door."

"!" said everyone as they looked around.

"Who's there? Who is that?" yelled Blue.

"Heh heh."

"That voice," said Luigi.

Suddenly Tutankoopa floated down.

"It's been a while hasn't it Mario? I'd love to finish you off, but right now, I'm going to go get that Shadow Star Spirit piece."

"! You'll do no such thing! Come on blue!"

Tutankoopa then made a loud noise like when he summoned Chain Chomps. 2 Bob-ombs suddenly charged at Red and Blue Goomba and blew up right in front of them. They both went flying and landed on the ground. Tutankoopa quickly floated over and took the key.

"Now then, if you don't mind, I'll be taking this."

"Not so fast!"

"!" said Tutankoopa as he noticed Mario and Luigi were right next to him.

"We won't let you take that piece!"

"Heh, okay then."

Tutankoopa let out a loud noise and 2 more bob-ombs charged at Mario and Luigi.

**BATTLE!**

The first bob-omb charged at Luigi. Luigi simply held his hammer back, powered up, and hit it away. He turned to see Mario doing all these fancy moves to dodge it. Mario jumped on the bob-omb. Then he held out his hammer, put it on the ground, and started to stand on it, then he did a spin jump on the bob-omb. The bob-omb lit up with explosions. Mario batted it in the air with his hammer, and then at the last second hit it real high in the air. It exploded in the air and Mario put the hammer on his back and smiled.

"Pssh…show off. All right then Tutankoopa, now it's your"-

But Tutankoopa was inside the castle and the door was locked. His face was seen in the small window.

"Ha ha you fools. You fell for it. Now, I'm going to go and get the Shadow Star Spirit piece," said Tutankoopa as he disappeared.

"Oh no! Now what do we do bro?"

Goomba King slowly walked up to them.

"M-M-M-Mario…"

"!"

The Goomba King fell. Mario and Luigi quickly ran over to him.

"Mario, there is another key to that door. It's in the small castle. Don't worry, the puzzles in the big castle are hard and would take forever to complete. You'll have time."

"But why are you helping us?"

"I'd rather see you guys take my prized possession then those ugly koopas. Please, don't let me down."

"Well Mario, let's go get that key."

The two went into the castle. They ran up the stairs to a room. There were a lot of blocks.

"Oh this is easy. Let's just break all the blocks with our hammers to find which way to go."

Luigi walked up to one of the blocks and smashed it with his hammer. When the hammer disappeared, it revealed a glowing button. Once the block was gone, there was nothing on the switch. The switch popped up and stopped glowing.

"Hmm…"

Suddenly a huge boulder came rolling out of the path. Luigi turned and he and Mario ran out of the castle and jumped away to dodge the boulder.

"Phew, that was close. Now what do we do Mario, we don't know which block to break."

"Heh heh"

"!"

The Goomba King and Red and Blue Goomba walked over but they were still hurt.

"It's the block on the far left. Now go, there's just a Goomba and that's all."

Mario nodded. Then the 2 ran back inside and hit the block on the far left. There was no switch, just a path. They followed the path up a lot of stairs and eventually came to a room with the key.

"That wasn't hard at all," said Luigi.

As Luigi was about to pick up the key, it was sucked into a treasure chest a Goomba was holding. Then the Goomba put another treasure chest right next to it.

"Heh, I'm going to move the treasure chests around. When I'm done, if you pick the right one, I'll give you the key. Here we go."

The Goomba move the 2 treasure chests around, but because he didn't have any arms, he moved them slowly and it was easy to tell where the key was.

"Is this supposed to be hard?"

Luigi walked over, picked the treasure chest, and walked away with the key.

"Darn it! My puzzle skills are still very bad. But you can't beat me in a fight."

The goomba charged at Luigi and he must have forgot Mario was there. Mario just kicked the Goomba and walked with Luigi to the outside of the castle. When they came out, they noticed that the Goomba King, and the Red and Blue Goombas were gone. But it didn't matter. The key simply unlocked the door to the second castle, and the 2 walked inside. Luckily for them, Tutankoopa had solved all of the puzzles, so they just ran to the top. Meanwhile, in the final room, Tutankoopa had just burst in.

"AGH! Why are those puzzles so hard!? That took forever! Oh well, at least I can get the Shadow Star Spirit piece."

Tutankoopa walked over to the piece, but was stopped when-

"Hold it right there Tutankoopa."

"!" said Tutankoopa as he turned to see Mario and Luigi.

"Sorry, but we are taking that Shadow Star Spirit piece."

"What!? How did you guys get here?"

"That doesn't matter. What matters, is that we take the piece from you."

"No! You'll have to fight me for it!"

**BATTLE!**

Tutankoopa charged at the Mario Bros. The Mario bros jumped but Tutankoopa ran right under them. Once they landed on the floor, Tutankoopa head-butted Luigi. He fell to the ground. Mario quickly swung his hammer at Tutankoopa. He went flying and hit the wall. But he got right back up. He started to make a lot of loud noises. Bob-ombs started to fall on Mario and Luigi (who got back up). Mario tried to jump away, but there were too many of them. On the other hand, Luigi smacked one of the bob-ombs right at Tutankoopa with his hammer. It blew up and he hit the wall again, and fell down. Both the Mario Bros then hit 2 more bob-ombs at Tutankoopa to get him. He could barely move.

"WHAT! I lost again! URGH! Why do I always lose? WHY? WHY? WHY? MAN I'M SO MAD! I HATE YOU STUPID BROS! I HATE YOU SO MUCH I WISH YOU COULD JUST DIE! I"-

Suddenly, the Shadow Star Spirit piece Tutankoopa was holding began to glow. Suddenly, BLAM! Tons of energy shot out of Tutankoopa as he became super powerful.

"What's going on bro?" said Luigi.

"Whoah…heh heh…this power is amazing. Heh, I guess these Shadow Star Spirit pieces can power up those that are evil. Awesome."

Tutankoopa then charged at full speed. He banged the 2 bros right into the wall. Mario and Luigi both charged. Tutankoopa then floated into the air and suddenly bob-ombs appeared on his hands. He then threw them at the bros and made more appear. There were too many and there was nothing the bros could do. Soon…they were defeated.

"AH HA HA HA! This power is amazing! Now no one can stop me! Now Mario bros, prepare to die!"

Tutankoopa walked up to Mario and Luigi. He began powering up a massive blast…when-

"Stop!"

"!"

Goombario rushed in and quickly hit Tutankoopa back to the wall.

"Get away from them Tutankoopa!"

"Ha ha ha! Do you think you can beat me after I just beat the Mario bros?"

"Maybe not alone,"

(Goombaria rushes in) "But with the help of a relative,"

(The Goomba King and Red and Blue Goomba rush in at full strength) "And some new friends,"

"We can beat you," said Goombario.

"Ech…I have to beat Goombario, Goombaria, the Goomba King, Red and Blue Goomba, and Mario and Luigi! These odds don't look good. Well, then farewell my Mario Bros."

Tutankoopa flew over them all at super fast speed and flew out of the castle.

Time passes

The Goombas healed Mario and Luigi and they were now outside talking.

"Thanks for your help back there you guys," said Luigi.

"Sure thing," said Goombario.

"But Tutankoopa got away with the Shadow Star Spirit piece," said Goomba King.

"We'll just chase him until he's cornered, right bro?"

Mario noded.

"We'll be just fine."

"I wish we could help, but we should stay back and fix all the puzzles."

"Yah, and us Goombas in Goomba Village are gonna become friends with Goomba King and his followers," said Goombaria.

"Yah, but right when we're done, we'll rush right over to help you guys okay?" asked Red Goomba.

"Ok guys, well, see you all later."

"Bye!" said the Goombas as Mario and Luigi walked off.

Mario and Luigi walked toward Toad Town.

_End of Prologue. Chapter 1 will begin shortly._

Mario and Luigi walked into Toad Town. Toadsworth was there looking around until he saw Mario and Luigi. He quickly ran over to them.

"Mario! Luigi! You must help us! Bowser has captured Peach…again."

"We know that, but why?"

"All Bowser said was and I quote, "Ha ha! I already have two Shadow Star Spirit pieces. Once I get the other 2 and use its power to take over the world, I'll need a good queen to help." Then he just flew away."

"WHAT!? You can use those Shadow Star Spirit pieces to take over the world! Bowser said he already has 2. Tutankoopa has a third. How many more are there?"

"I shall tell you everything."

"!"

Twink flew down.

"Mario, I was sent down to warn you about Bowser's evil plan. I shall tell you everything about the Shadow Star Spirit pieces."

"Why don't we go sit down in the castle first?" suggested Toadsworth.

"Good idea."

The 4 went into a room with the castle and closed the door shut. They all sat down and Twink began.

"Okay: Long ago, when Toad Town was first found, the Toads had just built Toad Town as the 1 Star Spirit watched over the land. Good was spreading. However, where there is good, there is evil. There was a great evil that terrorized the town and nearly destroyed it. In the Toads time of final need, the Star Spirit came down from the heavens and fought the great evil. But in the end, the great evil was too powerful for the Star Spirit to defeat. So, it was able to seal most of the great evil away, and only he can unlock the seal. However, no one knows what happened to the place where he sealed away the great evil. No one knows where it is. Of course there are still some soldiers from that great evil army that live today."

"What was the great evil?" asked Luigi.

"Nobody knows. Now then, if I can continue: After most of the great evil was defeated, the survivors ran away. With the evil gone, the Toads started to rebuild the town. The star spirit watched. He saw all the destruction the great evil had done and knew that if he had lost or wasn't there, the great evil would've taken over the world. So, he used a portion of his power to create 7 more Star Spirits. Those are the current 7 Star Spirits you all know today. But anyways, the 7 Star Spirits power combined couldn't defeat the 8th Star Spirit that created them, because he was afraid they might all team up on him. And so, the 8th Star Spirit once again watched the Toads rebuild the town. As he watched, he thought that if he could've destroyed the great evil, he could probably rule the whole world. The world would be his, and it could be any way he wants. With that, the 8th Shadow Star Spirit turned evil!"

"Evil!" screamed Toadsworth.

"Yes, that's why we call him the Shadow Star Spirit. Now then: The 8th Shadow Star Spirit started to attack Toad Town. The other 7 Star Spirits knew they had to stop him, so they went down to fight him. In the end, they lost. So, they fled to Star Haven. They gathered all the Star kids to tell them what had happened. They were shocked and knew that there was only one thing they could do. They all gathered their energy to create...the Star Rod! The Star Rod's power lied alone on people's wishes, because all the other stars were too weak to make it more powerful. So the 7 Star spirits had all the Star children run and tell the people to wish that the 7 Star Spirits could defeat the Shadow Star Spirit. Then, the 7 Star Spirits came down with the Star Rod to defeat the Shadow Star Spirit. All the people's wishes were making it powerful, but despite that, it couldn't defeat the Shadow Star Spirit. Remembering from when the Shadow Star Spirit defeated the great evil, the Star Spirits gathered all the Star Rod's power into one blast which they launched at the Shadow Star Spirit. The blast hit him and sealed him into a magic seal which they hid. After the destructive battle, they used the Star Rod's power to make the seal invisible to the naked eye. To open the seal, one could just step on the seal, so it could be awakened easily. So the Star Rod had to continuously be using a portion of its power to make the seal invisible. However, once Bowser stole the Star Rod, he used all its power on powering himself up and he made the seal visible. Right when the Star Spirits got the Star Rod back, they tried to use its power to make the seal invisible again. But someone had found the seal while it was visible and released the Shadow Star Spirit."

"Strange, I don't recall anyone seeing a Shadow Star Spirit. Is it really alive?"

"Not yet. You see, once the Star Spirits sealed it away, they had a feeling that someone might find it. So, they put a spell on it that made it so that once the Shadow Star Spirit's seal was found, it would not awaken, it would split into 4 pieces which would shoot across the world. The 4 pieces must be brought back to the seal to awaken it. And that is why Bowser is after the Shadow Star Spirit pieces.

"So he can bring the Shadow Star Spirit back and use its power to take over the world," said Luigi.

Mario stood up.

""

Luigi stood up.

"Mario's right. We can't just sit here while this is happening. Mario and I need to go chase Tutankoopa and get the Shadow Star Spirit piece from them."

"Then hurry! Good Luck! And please save the princess."

Mario and Luigi were about to leave when-

"Wait! I almost forgot. Tutankoopa and the Koopa bros were heading for Koopa bros castle when they came by," said Toadsworth.

"All right, thanks."

They were about to leave again when-

"WAIT!" said Twink, "I forgot, if someone is holding a Shadow Star Spirit and is currently acting really evil, the Shadow Star Spirit piece will power up the person greatly."

"We found that out the hard way with Tutankoopa."

"Oh…I see, but there is a good side to it. If the holder knows that acting evil will make the Shadow Star Spirit piece power him/her up, then it will not work. It only works if the holder doesn't know about it."

"Cool, so now Tutankoopa can't do it again. Oh yah, Twink, could someone get more powerful if holding 2, 3, or all 4 pieces?"

"Do not worry. It is impossible to do so with all 4 pieces. However, it can be done with 2 or 3. The user would have to be thinking really really evil stuff, and if the power of 3 pieces were absorbed, it would make him/her so powerful that they could probably take over the world easily."

"What!? Wow, I guess we better hurry then bro."

Mario and Luigi bid farewell to Toadsworth and Twink. Then they went down Koopa Road to get the Shadow Star Spirit piece back.

_To Be Continued…_


	2. Chapter 1: Koopa Chase

Geez, I can't believe I haven't got a single review for either of my stories. Oh yah, I'm gonna be posting this story faster then Clash of The Star Rods since it takes place before it.

I do not own any of the Mario characters and they are owned by Nintendo and Intelligent Systems

(When Mario says that means he's saying something like in the Paper Mario games, you just don't know what he's saying.)

**Paper Mario: The Shadow Star Spirit**

Mario and Luigi bid farewell to Toadsworth and Twink. Then they went down Koopa Road to get the Shadow Star Spirit piece back.

**Chapter 1**

**Koopa Chase**

Mario and Luigi started to run real fast.

"We'll catch up to them in no time bro."

After running, they stopped and quickly hid behind a bush being stunned by what they saw. Tutankoopa and the Koopa Bros were having a picnic!? Well the Koopa Bros were. Tutankoopa was facing the road waiting for them.

"Yum! This is a delicious sandwich. It's real good yellow. What do you call it?" said Green.

"Don't know. I just found it on the grass."

"Will you guys hurry up! (Green's in back strangling Yellow) Mario might be chasing us right now," said Tutankoopa.

"Oh cool it Tut," replied Red.

"Tut?" responded Tutankoopa.

"If Mario was chasing us, we would've seen him by now. Am I right?"

"Yah, but he might of stopped in Toad Town and he's on his way right now."

"Oh all right Tut, we'll go. ("Why's he saying Tut?" said Tutankoopa.) Come on guys, let's go before Mario gets here," said Red to the others.

Mario and Luigi then jumped out.

"Hold it right there you guys. We're not letting you go anywhere."

"Oh, what did I tell you Red? What? Oh, Mario won't come right? Ugh, you guys are useless...but don't worry, I'll get us out of this."

Tutankoopa walked up to the bros.

"You shouldn't have come after us Mario Bros. Now, you're gonna pay."

Tutankoopa made a real loud noise. A lot louder then the noise he normally makes. Suddenly 2 Bulky Bob-ombs appeared and charged at Mario and Luigi.

"Come on guys, let's make a run for it," said Red.

**BATTLE!**

One Bulky Bob-omb charged at Mario and Luigi. Mario jumped over it to dodge it. Luigi jumped on it. As he was in the air, Mario smacked the bob-omb with his hammer, then Luigi jumped on it. The bros then powered up, and hit it with their hammers way far away. But then the bros remembered there were 2. They turned to see the other one with high attack and ready to explode. Mario knew what to do. He ran up to it and hit it with his hammer, then ran over to the edge of the river. The bob-omb (which Mario got mad) charged at Mario. Mario quickly dodged it and whacked it into the river. The water stopped the fuse and the bob-omb just floated down the river.

"Phew, that was close. We should watch out for those guys. Now let's go bro."

The pair headed down the road when they heard a scream from Koopa Village.

"Could it be that they went through…Koopa Village?" suggested Luigi.

Mario nodded. The pair headed into Koopa Village. They heard noises coming from the middle of the village. They rushed over to find Tutankoopa arguing with Kooper and a Koopa Girl.

"Tutankoopa! What's that shiny thing there?" said Kooper as he pointed at the Shadow Star Spirit piece.

"Uh…nothing."

"It looks very valuable. What is it?" said the Koopa girl.

"I don't know. I just found it. It's nothing special. Not like it's part of a set of 4 pieces, which when combined could take over the world. No, nothing like that."

"Um…right…You koopas aren't even supposed to come here. This is a violation. You said as long as you guys don't come here, we can't go near your castles."

"That's the Koopa Bros, not me."

"It's no excuse, you still…(he notices Mario)…Mario! Mario, is that you? Hey, long time no see, huh?"

""

"Uh oh, this is not good," said Tutankoopa.

"Kooper, help! Tutankoopa has a rare piece that can take over the world if combined with 4 other pieces," said Luigi.

"Hmm…" said Kooper as he looked at Tutankoopa, "I never would have guessed."

"Uh on, I'm cornered. Well, I guess there's only 1 thing to do."

Tutankoopa screamed louder then he ever had before.

"COME FORTH ALMIGHTY KING!"

Suddenly, out of nowhere, King Bob-omb came flying down in front of Tutankoopa.

"Yes your leadership," said the king.

"Take care of these fools. If you can't beat them, explode and destroy the whole village! Ah, ha ha ha ha ha ha ha!"

"!"

"All right then, I shall destroy you all," said King Bob-omb as Tutankoopa ran.

"Don't worry Mario, we'll help you win this, right Kaiper?"

"Yah!" replied the Koopa.

**BATTLE!**

King Bob-omb quickly charged at Mario. Mario jumped out of the way. Then Kaiper got in her shell and jumped on Kooper who was in his shell. The 2 spun real fast and slammed into King Bob-omb. He went flying and hit a tree. Then King Bob-omb stood up and threw a bob-omb at the 2 Koopas. Even though they were in their shell, they got hurt. Luigi jumped on King Bob-omb and started hitting him. King Bob-omb powered up, and threw a powerful punch at Luigi. He jumped off and King Bob-omb's punched himself.

"Ouch! That really hurt! Well then, if I can't destroy you, then I'll have to blow up the whole village!"

King Bob-omb then lit his string.

"AHHHHHHHHHHH! What do we do!?" screamed Luigi.

"Um…um…wait…let me think," said Kaiper.

"We have no time to think!"

"Don't rush her Luigi. Kaiper is one of the smartest Koopas ever. She reads a ton of books everyday. Well Kaiper?"

"Got it!"

Kaiper ran into a house. As everyone was talking Luigi rolled his eyes. Then he walked to the top of King Bob-omb and blew out the fire.

"There, all done."

King Bob-omb opened his eyes.

"Do you think that will stop me? I'll just light it again."

King Bob-omb lit the string again and Luigi blew it out again.

"Ack! Why you little!"

King Bob-omb started to punch Luigi. Luigi dodged the blow and his fist hit the crown. King Bob-omb screamed in pain. He started to lick his hand. Kaiper then ran out of the house with a pair of scissors and threw it to Luigi, He cut off the string, then jumped off of King Bob-omb.

"Uh oh, I'm sorry Tutankoopa. I've failed you."

King Bob-omb ran away.

"Yay! Nice job Luigi and Kaiper!"

"Oh yah, hello Kaiper. I am Luigi, and this is Mario."

"Oh yes!" said Kooper, "Where are my manners? Mario, Luigi, this is Kaiper, my friend."

"Nice to meet you. I like to read books and I know a lot about the enemies out there. Of course I don't see Kooper much because he's always traveling with Kolorado. But Kooper has told me a lot about your adventure Mario, and I'm glad to meet you."

"But what are you guys doing here and what was Tutankoopa doing here?"

"We'll tell you after we get their piece from them. They're working for Bowser. If he can collect all the pieces, he'll be able to rule the world."

"What!? That's horrible! Please let me come with you."

"But Kooper, you're supposed to be going on an expedition with Kolorado soon. You can't go. But I'd be happy to go."

"Okay, Mario, please take Kaiper along with you. She'll be a big help."

"Please!" said Kaiper.

"Oh yah," replied Mario.

"Oh yes! This will be so fun. All right then, let's go."

**Kaiper joined your team**

And so the trio set off after Tutankoopa. They came to a lot of forks in the road. Luckily Kaiper was with them. She knew everything about the roads, enemies, etc. and Mario and Luigi were very impressed. They soon came to the Koopa Bros castle.

"Well, this is the Koopa Bros castle," said Kaiper.

""

"? You say it's smaller then when you and Kooper came here. Well, I guess so. It shouldn't be that hard. Let's go."

The trio headed inside. In the first room, they found a lot of holes in the ground and the door was at the end.

"Um…what do we do?" asked Luigi.

"I think we just walk to the door without stepping on any holes."

"That's too easy. But that might be it. Mario, you'd better go first to make sure it's okay."

Mario glared at Luigi. Then he walked slowly on the path. Mario unknowingly stepped on an invisible switch on the floor. As he passed a hole he heard a sound. "Thump" Mario gulped. Suddenly a Piranha plant came out ready to eat Mario. Mario jumped. Luigi quickly threw his hammer at the piranha plant to hit it. It went back into the hole. Mario picked up Luigi's hammer.

"Phew, that was a close one bro."

Luigi and Kaiper started to walk behind Mario. They all walked slowly. As the hallway grew small, they noticed a giant switch on the floor.

"We have to jump over this thing," said Kaiper.

"Ha! No problem! You go first bro."

Mario jumped real high and landed on the other side of the switch. Then Luigi did the same.

"Um…how do I get across? I can't jump that far."

"Don't worry. We'll catch you if you don't jump as far."

Luigi stepped forward and put his hands out. But he stepped too far and accidentally stepped onto the switch.

"…"

Kaiper quickly ran over to them and turned around. All the piranha plants popped out of all the holes and started to shoot fireballs at them.

"Oh no! Run!" screamed Kaiper as they ran.

They came to a door and quickly went inside and closed the door.

"Phew, that was close."

Kaiper looked up and so did Mario and Luigi. There were a hundred holes in front of them and piranha plants popped out of all of them. They began powering up to shoot fireballs.

"What do we do!? What do we do!?" screamed Kaiper.

"We're trapped. It looks like this is the end."

Mario however thought otherwise. He still had Luigi's hammer. Mario looked at Kaiper and nodded. Kaiper went into her shell and moved towards Mario. Mario stood on Kaiper and held his arms with hammers in them out. Kaiper then spun as fast as she could, spinning Mario too. Then she stopped and sent Mario flying at the piranhas. Mario's spinning hammer attack KOed all the Pirahnas with one huge blast. He was able to deflect all the fireballs too and they were soon all back in their pipes.

"All right Mario! Now, let's go to the next room….Mario?"

Luigi turned to see Mario lying on the ground dizzy. But with the hammers still secure in his hands.

"Oh great."

"Don't worry, I brought some items. Here's a Tasty Tonic," said Kaiper as she gave Mario one.

The team advanced into the next room where there were a ton of stairs. They climbed and climbed and climbed until they reached the top. Then they exited to the top area where Mario and Kooper fought the Bullet Bill Cannons. They were able to see Tutankoopa and the Koopa bros at the end. They were talking and hadn't noticed them yet.

"So are you sure you can beat Mario?" said Tutankoopa as he tossed the Shadow Star Spirit piece up and down.

"Of course, we made our machine more powerful then last time, so we'll beat him for sure."

"Okay, but I'm going to go to my ruins still."

"Don't worry, we'll call you as soon as we beat Mario," replied Red.

Tutankoopa noticed Mario and said "Speaking of which."

"Oh geez it's Mario. Quick, come on guys."

All 5 of them ran into the small castle room above the jail cell

The trio ran into the door. Mario remembered that this was the same place where he fought the Koopa bros last time. They saw no one there except for a Bowser robot. It looked like the one Mario beat last time but was stronger.

"Ha ha Mario! You remember this don't you? We made this robot a lot stronger and now there's no way you can win," said Red from inside the Bowser Bot (like that name?).

**BATTLE**

The robot moved slowly towards them. Mario charged at them and whacked the robot with his hammer. It didn't do anything. The robot was so strong that it didn't affect it. The robot slammed its arm at Mario and he fell down. Then it started to move towards Mario. Meanwhile, Kaiper threw Luigi. He landed on the robot. He hit it with his hammer on the head but it didn't do anything. He did it again. Nothing happened. The robot slammed its hands at Luigi. Luigi jumped off. The robot hit itself on the head and damaged it greatly. Then it turned to see Mario was gone. Behind it, Kaiper got in her shell. Then Mario and Luigi hit her straight up into the air. She flew. When the robot saw them it was too late. Kaiper, powered up, and slammed into the weakened spot on the robot's head. She went right through and broke it. The Koopa bros all came running out, but they were ready to fight. They all jumped on each other and started to spin real fast. Mario knew what to do remembering from his last fight. He ran over to the ledge and starting making faces at the Koopa bros. They all charged at Mario. He quickly jumped away and all the Koopa bros went falling off of the ledge.

"Not Again!" yelled Red.

"We'll meet again! We'll be back!" said Black as they all fell.

All 4 fell into the jail they fell last time. They got out because they knew that might happen so they put a lot of doors there.

"All right! We did it! Now we have to go get Tutankoopa," said Luigi.

"Yes…but where is Tutankoopa?"

The trio headed into the next room where they found…Buzzar!?

"Mario! Oh no!"

"Uh…Mario, who the heck is this guy?" asked Luigi.

""

"I was told to bring the Koopa bros to Tutankoopa's ruins like I just brought him," said Buzzar.

"Well they're not coming, and you're going to take us there," said Kaiper.

"Ha! First, I'm going to get revenge on Mario for the last battle, then I'm going to tell Tutankoopa that I took care of Mario myself!"

**BATTLE!**

Buzzar flew high into the air and started throwing sharp feathers at the three. Mario jumped on Luigi and they did the High Jump in Mario and Luigi: Superstar Saga. Mario was able to barely grab Buzzar's foot and he slowly pulled him to the ground. Buzzar flapped really hard to go back into the air but then Kaiper jumped on him when they were near the ground. Then Luigi jumped on Buzzar and started hitting him with his hammer. Then Buzzar flapped his wings really hard and fast. Mario let go and Buzzar shot into the air. Kaiper almost fell and was on Buzzar's leg now. Luigi whacked Buzzar's wing. He quickly stopped flapping it and they fell to the ground, where Mario powered up, and hit him into the wall.

"Okay, okay, you win. Please don't kill me. Please! I'll do anything!"

"How about you fly us over to Tutankoopa's ruins?" asked Luigi.

"Deal!"

And so, Buzzar flew the three all the way to Dry Dry Desert where Tutankoopa's ruins were.

"Okay, just come back here and I'll fly you anywhere, but only once."

"Okay, see ya buddy," said Kaiper as the 3 entered.

"Buddy?" said Buzzar.

The three entered. They found a ton of bob-omb statues.

"I though Tutankoopa ruled over the Chain Chomps. What happened Mario?" questioned Luigi.

""

"We should just go beat Tutankoopa," said Kaiper.

The 3 walked into the next room. They found a door and a switch. Luigi pushed the switch. The door opened, and out came a lot of bob-ombs.

"Oh no! What do we do?"

"Just hold on a second. As long as none of them light themselves, we'll be okay."

Suddenly, some koopas came out of the door. Then, one of them held up a match and lit it.

"Oh no!"

"Oh yes," said the Koopa, "Ready…?"

Suddenly Mario's hammer flew and hit the Koopa. He and the others went at mach speed running past them all into the next room

"Quickly, push all the Bob-ombs back!" said Kaiper.

They pushed as hard as they could to get all the bob-ombs back into the previous room. Then they pressed a switch in that room to close the door.

"Are they gone?" asked Luigi.

"Shh, listen."

The 3 listened into the previous room. They heard some voices.

"Man, why did they push all the bob-ombs in here with us?"

"Hey, where's that match you had?"

"Oh, it should be on the floor…somewhere."

"Ack! That Bob-omb is lit! Run!"

"Where?"

"I don't know! Just run!"

Bang! Bang! Bang! As the Koopas banged on the door on the other side.

"Tutankoopa…please let us out."

Our heroes heard the sound of a door opening.

"What is it you weak koopas?"

"It's…"

"Oh my gosh! He's lit! I said not to light any till Mario came!"

"We did."

"Run you fools before it's to late!"

"Ah!"

BOOM!

"o……..k, I think its okay to go inside," said Luigi.

The 3 pressed the switch again. They walked inside to see the floor and walls dented and no one was there. There was a passage that led down to another room.

"All right, let's get Tutankoopa!"

The 3 advanced to the final room with Tutankoopa, the only one who wasn't hit by the blast.

"So, you've come."

"Give us back that Shadow Star Spirit piece now!"

"Ha! Never! Now feel my wrath!"

**BATTLE!**

Mario charged at Tutankoopa with his hammer. Tutankoopa jumped back then tossed a shell at Mario. Luigi ran up and hit it back at him. Tutankoopa then summoned a lot of bob-oms. And he lit them all. Tutankoopa then floated into the air. Mario and Luigi hit the bob-ombs at Kaiper. She started to spin in her shell and she deflected the Bob-ombs into the sky where they exploded. Eventually, one hit Tutankoopa and he came crashing down. The 3 then started whacking him and jumping on him.

"All right, all right, I give up."

"Yes! We did it. Nice job guys," said Luigi as the ganged backed away from him.

"Ha ha ha! I don't think so!"

Tutankoopa then floated up into the air and held the Shadow Star Spirit piece.

"I HATE YOU MARIO! I WISH YOU WERE DEAD! I HATE YOU HATE YOU HATE YOU SO MUCH THAT I"-

Mario then slammed him into the ground with his hammer. He dropped the Shadow Star Spirit piece.

"But I don't understand. I was acting all evil. Why didn't the piece power me up like last time?"

"Heh heh," said Luigi, "That piece only powers up those that act evil when they are unaware that it will power them up. So it won't work on you anymore."

"WHAT! Aw man."

Tutankoopa was defeated. Mario walked over and was about to grab the Shadow Star Spirit piece when-

"Not so fast!"

Suddenly King Bob-omb dropped down on top of the Shadow Star Spirit Piece.

"!"

"Stop right there. You may have bested me last time but now I will win."

**BATTLE!**

King Bob-omb looked patched up and he wasn't completely round. It was strange. King Bob-omb jumped real high. The 3 ran. But the room was to small and Kaiper was crushed. Luigi jumped on top of him right before he leaped into the air again. He noticed that there was no string on King Bob-omb. As he landed Luigi tried to take off his crown but he couldn't. Meanwhile, Mario slammed King Bob-omb with his hammer. He made a dent inside him. As King Bob-omb leaped, Luigi jumped off. When King Bob-omb landed, Luigi fell from the sky and swung as hard as he could at King Bob-omb. King Bob-omb turned towards Luigi. Mario then powered up and hit him as hard as he could with his hammer, and Kaiper slammed into his at full speed. After all 3 great blows, King Bob-omb started making noises.

"Overload! Overload!"

"Oh great, not again," came a voice.

The King Bob-omb blew up and out fell…the Koopa bros.

"Here come the Koopa Bros," said Red as they all held up their thumbs and made them turn shiny.

"All right Mario, now we're going to get our revenge."

Luigi looked at Kaiper. She was ill from the slam of the King Bob-omb robot.

"This isn't good Mario, We're worn out from those first two battles and now we have to fight the Koopa Bros."

"Ha ha! Today we shall defeat you once and for all!"

**BATTLE!**

The Koopa bros all started to spin. Then they shot at Mario and Luigi real fast. The two managed to jump over them. But they started bouncing off the walls and each other and they couldn't dodge them. Luigi was hit and he fell to the ground. He saw Kaiper and had a plan. He grabbed his hammer, looked at Mario, and hit Kaiper (in her shell) as hard as he could at Mario. Mario jumped on Kaiper as he slid across the floor. He bounced off the wall and was headed straight for green. Mario jumped off at the last second and kicked Kaiper as hard as he could. Kaiper slammed into green and he shot into a corner. Kaiper then slammed him so hard into the wall his shell started to crack. Green quickly came out of his shell and was knocked out. Yellow came out and started to run over toward green. But, black hit Yellow and he tripped. Right Before he hit the floor Mario ran up and smacked him into the wall with his hammer. He fell on top of green. Both Black and Red came out of their shell. They hopped on top of each other and spun at Mario. Kaiper shot and hit the Koopa bros (directly between the 2). The 2 separated and hit the wall and started to fall toward Mario and Luigi. The bros pulled out their hammer, and smacked them right into the wall and they fell on top of the other Koopa bros, defeated.

"How could we lose again Red?" asked Black.

"I…urgh…why do we always lose!? We build the BEST robots, use the BEST attacks, and they still BEST us! I DON'T KNOW WHY BUT IT MAKES ME SO MAD! ARGH! I'M NOT GIVING UP! GET IN YOUR SHELLS BROS!"

All the koopas got in their shells while on top of each other and started spinning real fast.

"NOW I'M MAD!" said Black.

"WE WON'T LOSE THIS TIME! WE'VE COME TO CLOSE!" said Yellow.

"PREPARE TO DIE!" yelled Green.

Suddenly the Shadow Star Spirit Piece they were holding began to glow just like last time. The Koopa Bros then shot out with energy everywhere!

"Whoa! What's going on red?"

"WHO CARES!? LET'S GET THEM!"

The Koopa Bros charged at the 3 at insanely fast speed.

"Game Over," said Mario.

The Koopa Bros hit all of them into the wall and KOed them all in 1 hit. They then separated and looked at the 3, still mad and raging with power.

"No one beats the Koopa Bros," said Black.

"And now, good bye Mario," said Red as he walked up ready for the final blow.

"Stop!"

"!"

Just then Kooper came flying at full speed right into all of the Koopa Bros. After he hit all of them bad, Kolorado and some other Koopas came and powered up. They then went around as fast as Kooper hitting the Koopa Bros. Kooper then grabbed Kaiper and ran away. The others quickly did the same with Mario and Luigi. The Koopa Bros recovered from the blow and were still powerful, but noticed they disappeared.

"Aw darn it! Now what red?"

"No sweat bros, we still got the Shadow Star Spirit Piece, remember?"

Outside, the Koopas healed our heroes.

"Yah, Kolorado and I were visiting here and I had to help you," said Kooper.

"Well thanks Kooper," said Kaiper.

"Good to see you again Mario," said Kolorado.

"" replied Mario.

Buzzar then interrupted.

"Hey hey, I've got a schedule here. Do you guys want me to take you somewhere or not?"

"Sigh," said Kaiper, "Well, it was nice seeing you guys. Bye."

The Koopas waved good bye and continued exploring the desert. Mario and co. rode Buzzar back to Toad Town.

**END OF CHAPTER**

**And so, Mario, Luigi, and their new companion Kaiper chased and defeated Tutankoopa. Even though they lost to the Koopa Bros, the Koopas can no longer use the Shadow Star Spirit piece now that they know about it, so our heroes can still get it. But where are the other 3 pieces?**

**---------------------------------------------**Bowser**---------------------------------------------------**

The dark sky signed that Bowser's castle was in the area. At the castle, Bowser sat in his chair.

"Where are the Koopa Bros and Tutankoopa? They were supposed to be here by now with another Shadow Star Spirit Piece."

Suddenly the door opened, and in walked the Koopa Bros.

"What happened to you guys? And my piece, where's my Shadow Star Spirit Piece?"

"We're terribly sorry your evilness, but Mario found out about it. He chased us all the way to Tuankoopa's castle and he beat us to a pulp and stole it."

"WHAT!? MARIO!? NO! Darn it. Now he's come to get them from me. We have to take offensive action. Kammy Koopa!"

Kammy Koopa walked up to him.

"Yes, my lord?"

"Phone General Guy and tell him to take his troops and meet Crystal King at the top of Shiver Mountain. I'm sure their combined forces can protect that piece from Mario."

"My apologies sir, but lately, General Guy hasn't been returning our calls. It's like he isn't listening to us anymore."

"What!? Argh! Fine, then I'll go get him myself."

Bowser started to walk out of the room when-

"Uh…your angriness, what about us?" asked Red.

"Um…you guys go train so that you can become strong and beat Mario, now leave."

Bowser shot out of the castle with Kammy Koopa following behind. The Koopa Bros smirked.

"Heh heh," said Red, "Now that we have 1 piece, it can power us up whenever we want (doesn't know that it won't work anymore). If we can get them all, then we'll be invincible."

The Koopa Bros walked away. However they couldn't help but wonder, "If Tutankoopa used this, how did he lose to Mario?"

Meanwhile, Bowser burned all the enemies in his way to a crisp. They arrived close to the house with Shy Guy's Toy Box in Toad Town.

"Hm…now where is he?"

"All right troops line up," came a voice.

"!" said Bowser and Kammy as they noticed General Guy with some Shy Guys.

"All right troops, you know our mission, we must get the Shadow Star Spirit piece on Shiver Mountain."

General Guy turned and saw Bowser.

"Uh…um…why…Lord Bowser, why are you?"

"I called you to tell you to go help Crystal King guard the Shadow Star Spirit Piece. But why did you say you were going to take it?"

"Oh, I just got carried away. Yah, we got your call, we were just about to go. I just don't like responding. It's a habit of mine."

"Oh, okay then, you better be strong General Guy."

Bowser left. Kammy Koopa walked up to General Guy.

"I'm watching you."

She flew away with Bowser. A Shy Guy looked at General Guy.

"Phew, that was close. What are you going to do my lord?"

"We were lucky this time. Let's hope Bowser doesn't come back again. But for now, come, let us go!"

The Shy Guys marched threw Toad Town.

------------------------------------------------Jr. Troopa---------------------------------------------

In a small playground you could here a voice. It was Jr. Troopa He was playing when a book fell from the sky into his playground. He walked up to it. He picked it up and opened it to the first page. At the top it said "Shadow Star Spirit Piece Locations" Then it had a lot of writing that poor Jr. Troopa could barely read.

"Sha…dow Star Spirit…Piece? I wonder what it is. Oh well."

Suddenly Goompa ran up to him.

"Hey Jr. Troopa! That's my book. I need it back!"

"I thought we made an agreement that I wouldn't come up there if you didn't throw stuff down here."

"I know! I know! And I'm really sorry. But I won't do it again. Now give me back my book."

"NO!"

"Grr…all right then fine. Goombario! Come here!"

Goombario rushed over.

"Yes Grandpa."

"Jr. Troopa took my book. I need you to get it from him."

"All right, you better give that book up Jr. Troopa."

"Ha! Yah right! I'm not afraid of you. Bring it on!"

**BATTLE!**

Goombario charged at Jr. Troopa. He pulled out his wand and shot a magic blast at Goombario. It hit and Goombario flew back. But he got up and charged, this time dodging Jr. Troopa's attacks. But then, Jr. Troopa put his wand away and had his wings come out. Then he flew into the air right when Goombario jumped at him. When Goombario missed, he crashed to the ground. Jr. Troopa then flew down and hit Goombario with his spike on his head. Goombario flew out and hit Goompa. They looked around to see Jr. Troopa was gone. He then came from behind and slammed them both into a tree. As they landed, Jr. Troopa powered up, and punched them a hundred times, then he kicked them both way out of his playground.

"Ha ha ha! No one can defeat me! This book will be mine forever! Now, what's it say?"

--------------------------------------------------Mario-------------------------------------------------

_Chapter 2 will begin shortly_

The 3 walked around Toad Town to find Twink waiting for them.

"Mario!"

They ran over to him.

"Hey Mario, did you get the piece?"

""

"Aw that's too bad. Well maybe you'll get it later now that they can't use it. I have some news for you too. According to Star resources network, Goompa in Goomba Village is researching them and knows where some are, so you should go to him."

"All right, thanks Twink. Let's go you guys. To Goomba Village!"

"Yah!"

_To be continued…_


	3. Chapter 2: A Piece Up in the North

I do not own any of the Mario characters and they are owned by Nintendo and Intelligent Systems

(When Mario says that means he's saying something like in the Paper Mario games, you just don't know what he's saying.)

**Paper Mario: The Shadow Star Spirit**

Mario, Luigi, and Kaiper headed down Goomba Road to Goomba Village to meet Goompa who knew where the Shadow Star Spirit pieces are.

**Chapter 2**

**A Piece Up in the North**

The 3 charged through Goomba Road and ran to Goomba Village. They saw Goombaria outside and she was sad. They walked up to her.

""

"Oh, hello Mario. If you're looking for Goompa, he's inside with Goombario."

"Are you okay? What's wrong?" asked Luigi.

"Go inside and see for yourself."

The 3 walked into the house.

They saw all the Goombas crowded around Goombario who was in a bed hurt real bad. They walked up to him.

"Hi Mario, how's it (cough) going? (cough)" said Goombario.

"Please don't talk so much when you're hurt. What happened?" asked Kaiper.

"You're looking for the Shadow Star Spirit Pieces right?" said Goompa.

Mario nodded.

"After countless researching I was able to find out where 2 of them are. I wrote them down in a book so I wouldn't forget. As I read it on the ledge outside, I dropped it, and it fell all the way into Jr. Troopa's playground. Jr. Troopa wouldn't give it back because we made a deal that as long as he didn't come up here, we wouldn't drop things down there. Goombario came to help but Jr. Troopa was way too powerful."

"So, who is Jr. Troopa?" asked Kaiper.

""

"Yes, I seem to remember him in one of Kooper's stories about your adventure. He was always chasing you, trying to defeat you, right?"

Mario nodded.

"But he never did?" asked Luigi.

Mario nodded again.

"But now we have to go fight him again to get that book."

The 3 walked to the door and walked outside.

"Don't worry Goompa, we'll get your book back."

They closed the door and rushed down to Jr. Troopa's playground. When they got there, they found Jr. Troopa playing with the book.

"Hold it right there Jr. Troopa!" said Luigi,

""

"!" said Jr. T roopa, "That voice…could it be?"

He turned to see them.

"Mario! So, you've come at last. You must really want this book then. Heh heh, well sorry, I'm keeping this, and if you want it back, you'll have to fight me."

**BATTLE!**

Luigi charged at Jr. Troopa. He turned into his bat form and flew into the air just as he did to Goombario. Luigi missed, and Jr, Troopa charged. Mario jumped into the air and whacked him into the ground with his hammer. Jr. Troopa changed into his magic form. Then he started shooting blasts at them. The team dodged, but he was shooting too quickly. He hit Mario and knocked him down. Kaiper got in her shell and charged at him dodging the blasts. She was right next to Luigi. He shot a blast. Kaiper dodged it, and came next to Luigi. Luigi powered up with his hammer, and banged here as hard as he could into the air. Kaiper shot into the air and was on a course towards Jr. Troopa. He jumped out of the way and Kaiper hit the ground. He was about to hit her with a magic spell when Luigi charged. Jr. Troopa shot a powerful blast at Luigi as he jumped to dodge Kaiper. Mario (who ran behind him) powered up, and hit Jr. Troopa as hard as he could. Jr. Troopa flew and hit his own blast. It exploded and he fell defeated.

"All right all right, here, take it. Take the stupid book," he said angrily as he threw it at them.

Mario grabbed the book and ran back to Goomba Village.

"That book talked about Shadow Star Spirit pieces. They must be going after them. So, all I have to do is find one and Mario will come after me and we can have a rematch…and next time...I won't lose," muttered Jr. Troopa.

Meanwhile in Goomba Village Mario gave Goompa the book and he opened it to a page.

"So, we know that Bowser has 2 pieces, right?" said Goompa as he opened the book.

Mario nodded.

"Well one of them is of course at his castle."

"What about the other one?"

"I am pretty sure that it is being guarded by Bowser's minion, the Crystal King."

"! "

"So, you've fought him and you know where he is?"

"Oh yah," replied Mario.

"Okay, thanks Goompa, then Shiver Mountain it is, right Mario?" asked Kaiper.

Mario nodded and the three instantly ran off to Toad Town.

Meanwhile…behind a tree Jr. Troopa watched and chuckled.

"Heh heh, so they're going to Shiver Mountain, eh? Well, then I'll be right behind them."

Jr. Troopa changed into his bat form and flew off.

"Okay Mario, now which way to Shiver City?"

Mario pointed to the pipe that led to the sewers.

"Ugh! Do we really have to go through the sewers?" asked Kaiper.

"Well, if you don't want to then don't come," said Luigi as he and Mario went in.

Kaiper was about to go in when-

"Kaiper!" said Eldstar as he flew over to her.

"Oh, Eldstar, what is it?"

"Is Mario gone?"

"Yes, why?"

"Here," said Eldstar as he gave her a star.

"What's this?"

"That my friend is a Power Star. It works just like the Shadow Star Spirit Pieces, but is a little different. Make sure Mario does not find out about it.

"Why?"

"Because if he did then we couldn't find out if it would power him up a lot."

"Oh, so it's just like the Shadow Star Spirit Piece."

"Yes, but this one is slightly different. You see, it is designed to be much more powerful and is probably as powerful as 3 Shadow Star Spirit Pieces."

"Really!"

"Yes, but only 1 person in the world can have this much light."

"Who?"

"The Hero of Light."

"Wait a second, I remember reading about that in some book. Isn't it like a supreme hero who will come whenever darkness is about to take control. The savior of the world?"

"Correct, but we do still not know who that is. However, we are pretty sure that that person is Mario."

"REALLY!"

"Yes, but if it isn't, this Star is designed specifically for Mario. So, all Mario has to do is believe in light, and it will power him up as much as 2 Shadow Star Spirit Pieces."

"Wow, but we can only do it once?"

"No, Mario can absorb its power of 2 Shadow Star Spirits as much as he wants. However, the hero of light can only absorb its power of 3 Shadow Star Spirits once. Once the hero absorbs it, it will disappear."

"Okay let me review this, if this star is given to Mario when he believes in light, he'll be powered up as much as 2 Shadow Star Spirit Pieces. He can do this as much as he wants, even if he knows about it. The Hero of Light can also absorb it, and when he/she does, they will become as powerful as 3 Shadow Star Spirit Pieces. However, the hero can only do this once. And the hero might be Mario. Did I miss anything?"

"Nope."

"Okay, thanks Eldstar," said Kaiper as she followed the 2 into the pipe.

She came out to find the bros. Mario pointed to a doorway. They went through the door and some more doors to come to a block.

"Man, how do these get here? Oh well, come on bro."

They whacked it, but it didn't break.

Okay, how about we all hit it at the same time. Kaiper charged at the block and the bros swung their hammers real hard. They broke it.

They continued to a green pipe which led to Shiver City.

"Wow, that was fast."

They went through to Shiver City.

They came out to find a penguin.

"!" said the penguin as it ran over to them.

"Mario, you've returned. Oh, but we need your help right away."

"?"

"Well you see, all of a sudden, the stars from Starborn Valley came and are attacking us."

"OH!" said Mario.

"Here they come!" said a Penguin that came running by.

"!"

Some penguins came running by and a whole bunch of mad stars came attacking the penguins.

"We don't like you guys anymore."

"Yah, and we're going to take you down."

As the penguins ran, Mario, Luigi, and Kaiper jumped in front of them.

"How dare you get in our way plumber! We will show you no mercy."

**BATTLE!**

The Star Kids charged at Mario. He brought his hammer back and swung it. The stars flew over it and hit Mario. The same was happening to Luigi. Kaiper got in her shell and spun back out of the Star army. Then she charged right through it and hit them. The little stars couldn't stop her. Eventually Mario was free. He jumped on Kaiper and swung his hammer. He hit them all as they came back. But Luigi seemed like he was done for. Suddenly, some penguin scouts came charging at the stars. They helped Luigi and defeated the stars, then healed our heroes.

"NO! How could we lose?"

Then all the stars turned into Duplighosts.

"!"

"Urgh…retreat for now," said the Duplighost as they ran away.

"Phew, glad that's over, but what was that?"

The Mayor Penguin walked out of the crowd.

"Mario, I wish we could give you a warm welcome for coming back here, but we have been having a Duplighost problem lately."

"What?" asked Kaiper.

"Well, you see, these Duplighosts have found a way to take captured penguins or stars and turn them into Duplighosts. They've tried turning us against each other numerous times and their army is multiplying as ours weakens. We need help."

"Don't worry, we'll take care of them. But, have you heard of the Crystal King?" asked Luigi.

"Yes, he leads the leaders of the Duplighosts."

"So the Duplighosts follow leaders who follow the Crystal King?"

"Yes the Duplighosts follow 2 leaders who follow the Crystal King."

"Okay, thanks, we'll be back. "

The three headed down the road to where all the snowmen were and the entrance to Shiver Mountain. The snowman stopped them.

"And just where do you think you're going?"

"Why, to Shiver Mountain. Could you let us through?" asked Kaiper.

"No entry permitted! Be gone, or prepare to fight!"

"Fight…a snowman?"

"Yes, so bring it on."

"All right."

Kaiper walked to the right of the snowmen all lined up. While Luigi distracted them, Kaiper got in her shell and spun at them all. They all turned into piles of snow. They then turned into Duplighosts.

"Man, why do snowmen have to be so weak? Run for it!"

The Duplighosts ran into Shiver Mountain.

"Wow, if we beat that whole army, and they still have men on guard, there must be a lot of them," said Kaiper.

"Let's hope that they keep taking forms of weak people."

So, they went into the cave where they found a set of stairs but it was too low to get to the top. They needed a star. Mario remembered what to do. He walked over to the hole in the wall, but it was sealed up. Mario called to Luigi and he walked over.

""

"The star key is behind this wall? Well our hammers and Kaiper's shell power couldn't break this. We need stronger weapons. Let's go tell Kaiper."

They returned stunned to find 3 Kaipers.

Mario slapped his head.

"Not again."

"Mario, Mario, get these imposters away from me!"

"Who are you calling imposter? I'm the real one!"

"Stop joking you two. I'm the real one!"

"Oh great. Well, if we hit them all with our hammer, we should find out, after all, we have a mushroom so if we hit the real one, it'll be okay," said Luigi.

"You're…you're just saying that so you can hit me."

"Now do you really think that would be the reason? So, get ready."

Luigi walked up to the three with his hammer and he had a big grin on his face. Mario sighed. Two of the Kaipers quickly backed off and changed into Duplighosts.

"We…we…we didn't mean to give you guys trouble…heh…(to other Duplighost) come on, let's run for it," said the Duplighost as they ran past them.

"Man, now I don't get to hit her."

"What did you say!?"

Mario sighed and followed them. The Duplighosts came to the wall that had the Star Key behind it.

"Oh great, now what?"

"Well, Doopliss gave us hammers in case this happened."

Mario jumped out.

"Oh no! It's Mario! "

"Don't worry, we'll get him."

Kaiper and Luigi (who had a bruise on his arm) caught up to Mario.

**BATTLE!**

The 2 Duplighosts transformed into Mario and Luigi. The originals charged and swung their hammers. They missed. Then the Duplighosts took out strong steel hammers. They smacked the bros' hammers so hard that they broke. They both jumped back. Kaiper charged at the Duplighosts. The Duplighosts jumped and she missed. But they didn't notice that Mario and Luigi jumped in the air and were above them. They powered up and slammed on them and they turned back into Duplighosts. Kaiper then powered up and hit the 2 straight into the wall.

"All right you win, but don't hurt us. You can have these hammers."

Mario nodded. The Duplighosts ran away. Mario and Luigi picked up the steel hammers, brought their arms back, and hit the wall as hard as they could. It broke through. The 3 ventured inside. At the end of the cave, they found the spirit that gave Mario the Star Key last time.

"Welcome Mario. Once again evil is afoot. And I have a chance you will be in grave danger. I must tell you all a story about the Shadow Star Spirit."

Mario sat down. Luigi looked at him. Mario waved. He sat down too. Kaiper then sat down next to them. As the Spirit told the story Mario fell asleep again. Then Luigi did. Kaiper just stared and listened with amazement.

After a long boring story, Mario and Luigi were fast asleep. Kaiper wasn't even tired as she listened to the whole story.

"And that is what you must watch out for. So, now you know, and can do better, right?"

Mario and Luigi woke up and nodded and Kaiper just sighed.

"All right, then take this key. The Star floated over to Mario who grabbed it and quickly ran back to the stairs.

Luigi and Kaiper followed. Mario put the key in, and a path ascended which led to Crystal Palace.

They all went up the stairs. As they advanced to Crystal Palace, they saw a lone Duplighost looking at the stars.

"Oh stars, I am in need. I turn penguins and stars into Duplighosts but I do not feel happiness like the other Duplighosts do. Am I…different? But, if I tell them, they will force me to turn penguins and stars into Duplighosts or be tortured. Oh, what to do? I need help from you."

"He seems nice," said Luigi.

"Yah, let's go have a talk with him."

The three walked over to him.

"! Mario! Oh no! Should I fight?"

"Don't worry, we won't hurt you. We heard you talking to the stars."

"You did!?"

"Yes," replied Kaiper, "And we can help you. If we defeat the leader of your Duplighosts, we can make you be the leader and you can control them for good."

"But I already am a leader."

"Really!? But…then…who are you?"

"My name is Duplow. I am one of the two Duplighost leaders of Crystal Palace. Doopliss is the other leader."

"I heard his name somewhere."

"He turns people into Shadows. Then I turn the shadow into a Duplighost."

"So they need to be Shadows for you to turn them into a Duplighost?" asked Luigi.

"Permanently. If I turned you guys into Duplighosts, then you'd eventually become yourselves again."

"How long?"

"Oh, maybe 10 minutes or so."

"Perfect! Then you turn us three into Duplighosts. We'll sneak over to this Doopliss and we'll defeat him. Then you can lead them."

"But the Crystal King controls us."

"Oh yah," remarked Luigi.

""

"Yah, we'll beat him too."

"Are you guys really strong enough?"

""

"There, Mario's beaten him before, so we can beat him again."

"Well…okay, fine. Let's do it!"

**Duplow joined your team**

"All right, here we go!" said Duplow.

Duplow held his arms up and Mario, Luigi, and Kaiper turned into Duplighosts. They went inside and walked past the Duplighost guards to a door guarded by two Duplighosts.

"Duplow! Doopliss has been calling you! And who are these Duplighosts?"

Luigi pointed at Mario and said, "He's Mar"- but then Kaiper slapped him.

"Mar?"

"Martin. He's Martin."

"That's a weird name for a Duplighost."

"Well, Martin is a weird guy."

"And you two?"

"I'm Kayghost."

"And I'm Duigi."

"Why did you bring them Duplow? You know no one can enter this room except you and Doopliss."

"Yes, but I need them to come with me."

"Why?"

"Um…go ask Doopliss."

"Okay."

The two Duplighosts turned around and were about to open the door when Mario and Luigi smacked them in the head with their hammers and knocked them out. The four quickly headed into the room. There they found Doopliss and a huge machine which Doopliss and Duplow worked at.

"There you are. Where have you been? And who are these people? Don't you know the rules?"

"It's time for me to take charge Doopliss."

"Wha?"

Suddenly the 3 turned back into their original forms.

"M-M-M-Mario! Duplow you traitor, how could you?"

"I don't like what we do and now I'm going to put an end to it."

"Argh! Fine you traitor."

**BATTLE!**

Duplow charged at Doopliss. Doopliss floated into the air, then slammed on Duplow. Mario came and jumped on Doopliss. Doopliss quickly recovered and jumped back into the air. He floated in the air and shot straight at Mario. Mario jumped out of the way to dodge it. When he hit the ground, Luigi shot Kaiper straight at Doopliss. She slammed into Doopliss and he went straight back into the wall. Luigi then charged, powered up, and hit Doopliss as hard as he could, defeating him.

"Ouch, you guys are good," said Doopliss as he stood up.

Doopliss then changed into Mario, and started powering up some sort of blast. He shot it at the ground. Everyone jumped out of the way. When they looked, he was gone.

"Uh oh, he's gone," said Duplow, "We'd better follow him."

The 4 ran out to the room to find Doopliss and all the Duplighosts.

"You cannot defeat the entire Doopliss army."

Suddenly about half of the Duplighosts turned into penguins and stars.

"WHAT THE!?"

"Sorry Doopliss, but since we beat you, they all turn back to normal," said Duplow.

The penguins and stars ran behind Duplow.

"Now then, let the war begin," said Duplow as they charged.

"I'll make you pay!!!"

The forces collided with everyone giving it their all. Mario and Luigi were really denting the Duplighost army. It was slowly becoming a win for Duplow. Suddenly…the wall exploded! And in came General Guy with his Shy Guy Army.

"All right, everybody, listen up. We are taking your Shadow Star Spirit Piece and there's nothing you can do about it."

"What?" said Doopliss, "Bowser said you would come to help us, not destroy us."

"Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha. Bowser is simply a big gullible fool and we shall resurrect the Shadow Star Spirit, and use its power to rule the world!"

"WHAT!" said Doopliss, "YOU TRAITOR! ATTACK!"

But the 2 armies couldn't stand the blow of the Shy Guy Army. The Shy Guys were too strong.

"Hurry everyone! Retreat!" cried Luigi.

Mario, Luigi, Kaiper and some penguins were able to escape. They raced to the Crystal King to warn him about the Shy Guy Wrath about to hit him. As they came to the end, the Crystal King wasn't there.

"So Mario, you've finally come," came a voice.

"!"

The Crystal King slowly appeared and floated over to them.

"Mario, I knew you would come. You want my Shadow Star Spirit piece!"

"No, no! General Guy and his Shy Guys are attacking!" said Luigi.

"Ha! Bowser does not lie! He said they would come to help. You cannot fool me, you just want this piece."

"NO!" said Kaiper.

"Now feel my wrath!"

**BATTLE!**

The Crystal King shot some ice at Mario. He dodged it, then charged at the Crystal King with Luigi. As they approached, the Crystal King turned into 3 of himself. They stopped. Kaiper came shooting at one, while Luigi, another, and Mario the last one. They all shot blasts which froze them all except Kaiper who went below the blast. Unfortunately, she hit a fake one which disappeared. She turned around and slammed into Luigi which broke the ice. The Crystal King shot another blast which Luigi barely dodged. Then he broke Mario free. The 3 ran as the Crystal King became 3 and shot at all of them. They ran as fast as they could but they couldn't get close to him. So, Luigi stood at angle where he was facing one and the others were behind him. He threw his hammer and it hit all of them. Two disappeared and the real one was revealed. Kaiper quickly powered up and shot at him and Mario powered up and threw his hammer. They all hit the Crystal King and he fell. Right when Mario and Luigi picked up their hammers,

"URGH! I…I WONT GIVE UP!" screamed the Crystal King.

"Aw crap," said Kaiper.

The Shadow Star Spirit Piece the Crystal King had suddenly glowed and the Crystal King became super powerful.

"Hm…what the?" he said, "Oh well, now I'll get you!"

The team ran away, but Crystal King was able to move fast and shoot ice everywhere. He hit all of them, and only Kaiper was okay. Just then-

BOOM! A wall exploded.

"What the?" said the Crystal King.

"Oh no! Here they come. Quickly hide!" said Kaiper as she pulled the bros behind a nearby rock.

When the smoke cleared, General Guy and the Shy Guys came charging out.

"Ah, General Guy, why in the world did you destroy my castle?"

"Crystal King, hand over your Shadow Star Spirit Piece or else."

"What! So, what they said was…true. I will never give you this piece!"

"Heh heh heh heh heh. All right then, attack."

The Shy Guys charged at the Crystal King (who still had the Shadow Star Spirit Piece's Power). The Crystal King shot a huge ice blast all around them and he froze them all. Just then General Guy somehow teleported above the Crystal King. He powered up and slammed on the Crystal King as hard as he could. The Crystal King dropped the piece and General Guy grabbed it.

"Yes! One piece down, three to go."

"What now lord?" said a Shy Guy.

"There's a warp pipe ahead that leads to Yoshi's Island. We shall go there where the Shy Ship shall pick us up and take us back to our toy box."

"We must stop him," said Luigi from behind the bush.

"Not yet or we'll be destroyed."

General Guy advanced to a pipe. He went in it, then so did 3 more Shy Guys. The last two were about to go in.

"Now!" said Kaiper as the 3 jumped out.

"Hold it right there Shy Guys!"

"Well, well, well, if it isn't Mario. You can't stop us Mario, we've grown too powerful."

"We'll finish you off and show you the power of the Shy Guys!"

**BATTLE!**

One Shy Guy charged at Mario with speed about as fast as Kaiper in her shell. He slammed into Mario and he flew onto the ground. Luigi and Kaiper were both shocked by the speed. Then the second charged at Luigi. He jumped over it and landed on the Shy Guy. He ran real fast and Luigi was hanging on. Kaiper and the other Shy Guy were charging at each other. Meanwhile, Mario got up and saw Luigi. He looked at Luigi who noticed him. Luigi got the Shy Guy to charge at Mario. Mario held out his hammer. Luigi smacked the Shy Guy with his hammer. Luigi set him on a course for Mario. Mario whacked it straight at the other Shy Guy and they both flew over the edge.

"General Guy, May you bring upon this horrible world the age of the Shy Guys," said the Shy Guys as they fell.

"We got them."

"Yah, but how did they move so fast?"

"I don't know. Shy Guy's aren't supposed to be that fast," said Kaiper.

""

"Yah, all we can do is chase General Guy and get that piece from him."

Mario, Luigi, and Kaiper jumped into the pipe. Just then Jr. Troopa ran up to them and entered, following them.

_Will Mario and co. be able to catch General Guy and take his Shadow Star Spirit Piece? And why are the Shy Guys so powerful? And why is General Guy acting against Bowser's orders..._

_To be continued…_

_ --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------_

Comments: Yay, I got a review! Sigh...too bad it's a complaint. Is anyone reading these stories cause the amount of reviews just stuns me. And here's my reply to me only review: I deleted the first story so people wouldn't read it again and know what's going to happen. Then no one would read this story.

And here's a side note: everyone who read the story already, just read up to chapters 4, and maybe 7 and 8. Chapters 5-6 will have little difference, and 7-8 will change, but not as much as 3-4.


	4. Chapter 3: General Guy on the Run

I do not own any of the Mario characters and they are owned by Nintendo and Intelligent Systems

(When Mario says that means he's saying something like in the Paper Mario games, you just don't know what he's saying.)

**Paper Mario: The Shadow Star Spirit**

Mario, Luigi, and Kaiper entered the pipe in pursuit of General Guy.

**Chapter 3**

**General Guy on the Run**

The 3 popped out in a jungle with trees and a path ahead of them. General Guy was no where in site.

"Where are we?"

""

"Oh yah, General Guy said this pipe lead to Yoshi's Island."

"Well, that path is the only place General Guy could've gone. So…after him."

The 3 headed through the jungle. They eventually caught up to General Guy and his 3 Shy Guys.

"How much longer General Guy?"

"Hopefully not that long. But this jungle goes on forever. And we still have to go through a volcano."

"A volcano! Well we better start before it erupts."

"But guys…" said a Green Shy Guy.

"What now?"

"Are you still sure what we're doing is right?"

"What do you mean?"

"Wouldn't it be better if we used the Shadow Star Spirit's power to help those in need?"

"Man, what is wrong with you?"

"Why did I take you with me? You might have the highest potential but you have too much good in you. Oh well, let's just go before"-

"Hold it right there General Guy!" said Luigi as he and the rest jumped out.

"!" said the Shy Guys.

"Well well well, if it isn't Mario and his brother. You've come for this Shadow Star Spirit, haven't you?"

"Yes, and we will get it."

"Ha! You think you can defeat us? We have grown so powerful you wouldn't stand a chance against us!" said General Guy.

"He's right you two, these guys are pretty powerful," said Kaiper.

""

"All right then, we shall destroy"-

"Mario!" came a voice.

"!" said everyone as Jr. Troopa entered the scene.

"All right Mario, now I'm going to destroy you."

"Who are you?" asked General Guy.

"You don't know who I am and I don't know who you are, but I just want to finish Mario off!"

"Heh heh. Very well, carry on then. See ya later Mario," said General Guy as he and the Shy Guys ran off.

"Man, why do you have to keep getting in our way?" said Luigi,

"Silence! I will destroy you all with my new power!"

"Which is?"

"Heh heh, I was able to combine both my flying form and my magic form into one!"

**BATTLE!**

Jr. Troopa started to glow. Then he got out his bat wings and spike on his head and he floated into the air. Then he was able to make his magic wand appear. He started shooting magic blasts at the three. Mario and Luigi dodged but Kaiper was hit and flew back to a tree. The bros grabbed their hammers and started charging at him. But Jr. Troopa just floated into the air real high while he shot magic blasts at them. Mario jumped back and threw his hammer at Jr. Troopa. Jr. Troopa countered it, by using his cane to whack the hammer at Mario. It hit him and he fell down. He looked around to notice Luigi was gone. He floated down a little to try and grab Mario's hammer. Then Luigi jumped off of a huge tree, powered up, and threw Kaiper as hard as he could and slammed his hammer right into Jr. Troopa's skull. The 2 blasts sent Jr. Troopa crashing down onto the ground. Mario then powered up, and hit him as hard as he could and he flew threw the air.

"I'll be back," said Jr. Troopa as he left.

"Phew, we got him."

"Yah, now let's get General Guy."

The three ran down the path until they came to a volcano.

"Wow," said Luigi.

Kaiper began, "Mt. Lavalava: an active volcano on Yoshi's Island. Its height is 20,643 feet and many visitors come to see its magnificence. Said to be created about 1 million years ago, Mt. Lavalava is"-

"Al right, all right, can we just go in?" said Luigi.

Kaiper chuckled as the three ventured inside. In the first room, there were 4 treasure chests in the room and that was it.

"Oh boy, oh boy! Let's open them."

"Wait!" said Kaiper, but it was too late.

Luigi ran over and opened the first treasure chest. A piranha plant shot out and bit Luigi in the nose. Then it let go and popped back into the chest and the chest closed and you could hear it laughing. Luigi turned to face Mario.

"Stupid treasure chest."

"Um…okay, let's just open the other 3 and see what's inside, okay?" asked Kaiper.

Mario nodded. The 3 walked over to the treasure chests. Luigi ran to the last one.

"I want this one!"

Kaiper eyed the remaining 2 and noticed finger marks on the third chest. She walked over to it.

"I'll take this one then."

Mario walked over to the second one. They all got ready to open their chest.

Mario opened his, and then he held up a mushroom and said, "I got it!" then ate it. Kaiper opened her chest, then held up a switch and said, "This should create a door." Luigi opened his chest, looked inside, and then turned to face the others. A piranha plant had bit his nose and then went back into the chest laughing. "I HATE THIS PLACE!" Kaiper hit the switch and a door appeared. The 3 headed on inside. In the next room, they found General Guy and his 3 Shy Guys arguing with Lava Piranha.

"You have to let us through! You just HAVE TO!"

(You might remember that this is how he talked in Paper Mario (All Caps)) "I LET NO ONE THROUGH! WHAT I GET IF I LET YOU GO THROUGH?"

"Um…well… (General Guy spotted Mario) I know, I'll let you re-fight Mario, who humiliated you a couple years ago."

"WHAT! I CAN FIGHT MARIO! OKAY THEN, YOU GO THROUGH."

Lava Piranha moved away to reveal a platform a little behind them. General Guy and the 3 Shy Guys jumped over and kept running. Mario and co. then walked up to Lava Piranha.

"Uh oh, we're too late," said Kaiper.

"HA! HA! NOW I GET REVENGE ON YOU MARIO! NOW YOU PAY!"

"Ah, crap."

"Let's-a-go!"

**BATTLE!**

Lava Piranha moved back a little, and then shot some fire blasts at the 3. Mario and Luigi moved back. Kaiper got in her shell but the fire was too much. Her shell turned red and she quickly ran back to the bros and fainted, Mario and Luigi than charged. Lava Piranha and the 2 little Lava Piranhas shot fire at them, but they dodged it as they charged. Luigi jumped high into the air and slammed his hammer one of the little piranhas. As it sank, Mario jumped off of Luigi, jumped off of the little piranha sinking, slammed on the other little piranha, knocking it out, then jumped up to Lava Piranha, powered up, and slammed his hammer and boots into it. Luigi then powered up and threw his hammer at the Piranha. It slowly sank and Mario jumped back next to Luigi. Then they gave Kaiper a Mushroom and continued on. Eventually, they exited and straight ahead was the outside and Yoshi Village.

"Hooray! We're out of that silly volcano."

"Yes, but will the Yoshis welcome us?"

""

"Oh, then let's go meet the Yoshi species. I can't wait to examine their skin and…"

"We're not here to do any of that!" said Luigi.

"B-B-B-Bu-Bu-Bu-But…NOO!!!"

Kaiper ran to Yoshi Village and the Mario Bros followed. At Yoshi Village, the Mario Bros found Kaiper in a small house chasing a Yoshi. The Yoshi leader (the big one who gives you the Jade Raven) was just standing there.

"I…must…learn!!" screamed Kaiper as she chased the Yoshi.

"NO!" said the Yoshi.

"Uhh…oh, hi Mario is she (he points at Kaiper) with you?" said the Yoshi Leader.

"Yah, she's with us, but you can just ignore her."

"Oh, but what are you doing here?"

""

"Really! Yah, General Guy and 3 Shy guys passed by earlier and they were racing to the beach where you came here on the whale."

"What!? Then, we better hurry bro. Hey, Kaiper!"

"Please stop…stop running!" said Kaiper as she kept chasing.

"NO!"

"Uh….okay, let's go Mario, I'm sure Kaiper will be fine here."

And so, the 2 Bros set off to the beach where General Guy was. However, it was blocked off by a humongous row of bushes. There were a read and blue Yoshi there.

"?"

"Hm…oh hello there, yah, some shy guys came by here. They broke a very powerful stone piece that was hiding an underground entrance. So much power," said the Red Yoshi.

"Yah, then they quickly boarded up the hole and we aren't strong enough to break it. It's right there," said the Blue Yoshi as he pointed to it.

Mario and Luigi walked to the boarded piece of wood. Mario and Luigi both slammed their hammers onto it. No effect. Then they jumped on it with their boots. No effect.

:I wonder if those two can use the secret item to break it," said the Red Yoshi.

"Actually…"replied the Blue one.

"Wait, what did you say? We might be able to break this?"

"Well, our dad who lives a little bit in the jungle found these powerful boots but they don't fit on anyone. But, one of the shy guys (I think the white one) ordered the green one to go find something in the jungle and he went."

"We think he might've gone for the boots because they could destroy this board," said the Blue one.

"All righty then, let's go Mario."

"Oh yah!"

The two headed into the jungle. They had to use their hammers to get through some of the big branches and vines. They actually found a semi big piranha too and it poisoned poor Luigi. Luckily, they found a tasty tonic close by which healed him. They eventually heard a noise.

"Ow…stop that! Ow!!"

"Sorry mister, I don't fully agree with General Guy, but he's grown very very powerful and so have some of the shy guys, so I have to follow his orders."

Mario and Luigi quickly burst into the scene to find the Green Shy Guy with General Guy earlier attacking a Yoshi.

"Uh oh…uh…Mario, you'd better watch out, because I have a small chance of…I mean I possibly will…I mean I might…beat you."

**BATTLE!**

The Green Shy Guy charged at Mario. Mario ran away and Luigi whacked him with his hammer. He banged on a near tree, and as he hit the ground Mario slammed on him.

"Ow…you guys are powerful, please don't finish me off. I'm not even sure if I'm on the right side."

""

"Hm…you won't destroy me? Really? Thanks a lot you guys. Um…my name's Green Guy. How can such nice guys be the enemy?"

"Well, from what we've heard you say to General Guy, we think you'd be a big help on our side."

"But…General Guy is so strong now. He's stronger then ever."

"Yah, but we are fighting for good and hope so we will always win!"

"Oh yah," said Mario.

"Wow, that's a pretty confident speech coming from a guy who saves the world and is still just a plumber. Why are you guys going to so much trouble to save the world anyway?"

""

"Oh my gosh! Really! That's Amazing! If everyone knew that was why you went on all those adventures it would all make sense. Why don't you tell anyone?"

""

"Ah, but of course. Well, since you told me one of your biggest secrets I guess you must really trust me, so…I'll trust you guys too. I'll help you get back those Shadow Star Spirit pieces. My name is Green Shy Guy, but everyone just calls me Green Guy."

**Green Shy Guy joined the team!**

**(But you can just call him Green Guy)**

"Oh yah, I also got some more great news for you. You know that board General Guy boarded up? Well, if you wear those boots you can break it. Oh yah…um…Yoshi…I'm real sorry for hurting you. I did it out of fear."

"Nah, it's okay. In fact, here you go Mario and Luigi. Two pairs of Super Jump Boots for you guys. "

Mario and Luigi put on the new Super Boots and were heading back to the board when-

"Um…guys?" asked Green Guy.

"Hm, yah what is it?"

"Well, General Guy is really strong and so…maybe we should go to the Yoshi village and get some items and maybe some help."

"Oh yah, we should go get Kaiper too and our pockets are starting to get full of coins. Okay then, let's head back to town."

"Um…excuse me…who's Kaiper?"

"Oh, she's a know-it-all Koopa. She stayed behind because she wanted to learn about Yoshis and discover the unknown and some mumbo jumbo."

"Did you say…"discover the unknown?""

"Yah, why?"

"Oh, uh…nothing, let's go."

The 3 headed to Yoshi village. They stocked up on some items and went to the Yoshi leader's house to pick up Kaiper.

"Kaiper, are you still here?" said Luigi as the 3 walked in.

Kaiper was lying on the ground and the Yoshi leader was standing next to the 3.

"Well, after a while, she got so tired of running that she just collapsed."

Mario and Green Guy walked over to Kaiper. She glanced at the 3 and her eyes widened as she saw Green Guy.

"Is that a Shy Guy?" she eagerly asked.

"Yah, this is Green Guy. We found him on the way to General Guy and"-

Kaiper instantly got up and sprinted to Green Guy.

"ONE OF THE GREATEST SECRETS KNOWN TO TOAD IS WHAT IS BEHIND A SHY GUY'S MASK! I MUST SEE!"

"AHHHHH!!! NOOOOOOOO!"

Green Guy ran behind Luigi and held onto Luigi's legs begging Luigi to help. Mario quickly grabbed Kaiper and Luigi was holding her back.

"Kaiper…pull yourself together…you can't just pull off his mask. It's his. Now get a hold of yourself…and calm down. "

But Kaiper wouldn't stop.

"KAIPER!" screamed Luigi as Mario hit her to the ground.

"Now you listen here, you will not pull off Green Guy's mask without his permission. We're lucky enough to have a Shy Guy who's a good guy. Now, leave him alone. We have to focus on the Shadow Star Spirit, remember?"

"Yes, yes, I'm sorry, I lost control of myself, sigh," said Kaiper as she got up.

Luigi moved out of the way to reveal Green Guy who was hiding in the corner. Kaiper walked up to him.

"I'm sorry, my name is Kaiper, can you ever forgive me?"

"Um…I guess so…hi…I'm Green Guy."

The 2 shook hands.

"Good, now that that's out of the way let's go get General Guy."

Mario, Luigi, and Green Guy walked out of the room leaving Kaiper.

"Darn it! The biggest secret ever and Mario and Luigi don't want to know what it is. Oh well, all I have to do is wait for the moment of opportunity…and then…I strike. I will find out what it is. I will," said Kaiper as she laughed maniacally.

""

"Ah yes, coming."

The four ventured to the 2 Yoshis with the board. Mario and Luigi used their new boots to break it and then they continued through the hole. It was short. The hole went under a bush and emptied out near the edge of the sea. As they came out, they soon found General Guy and his 2 Shy Guys, but they hid so as not to be seen.

"Man, where is the Shy Ship…it should have been here by now," said General Guy.

"Now please, calm down General Guy, it'll all work out okay. We still have the Shadow Star Spirit piece, right?"

Just then, a shy guy boat came to the shore and stopped, barely missing the ledge. A shy guy in a white outfit that looked like a sailor jumped onto the shore.

"Sorry for being late General Guy," said the Shy Sailor.

"Let's just get going before any trouble happens."

The Shy Guys quickly got on the boat and were about to leave.about to leave.

"Mario, we have to strike now, or we won't have another chance," said Luigi.

Mario nodded, and the 4 ran out and jumped onto the boat as it sailed away.

"Hold it right there General Guy!"

General Guy and the other Shy Guys turned around.

"WHAT!? MARIO!?" screamed General Guy, "Darn it, why did you guys have to be late? Now we have to fight Mario, Luigi, a Koopa, and…Green Guy, is that you?"

"Y-Y-Yes sir, I've decided to join with Mario now."

"What!? Fine, traitor, I guess I'll show you guys how powerful I have become now. Heh heh heh, this will be fun."

**BATTLE!**

"However," said General Guy, "I think I'll show you guys the power of my Shy Guys first. Go!"

5 Shy Sailors marched in front of General Guy. They all charged. Mario and Luigi slammed on two of them with their boots to KO them, Kaiper got in her shell and rammed into another one. Green Guy just ran from them and the other 3 eventually helped him get the other 2 Shy Guys. They hit them all together to KO them all.

"Well, I expected this much, but now you pay. Go Sailor Stacks!"

About 15 Shy Sailors came out and stacked on top of each other to make 3 Stacks of 5 Shy Sailors. Luigi jumped on Mario and the duo jumped off of Kaiper (who was in her shell) and catapulted above one of the stacks. The bros powered up, pulled out their hammers, and spun really fast while they slammed into the stack. They KOed all of them. But, the other 2 stacks pulled out slingshots and hit Mario and Luigi knocking them over. Luigi dropped his hammer. Green Guy walked over and picked it up, then looked at Kaiper and nodded. Kaiper got in her shell and Green Guy whacked Kaiper right at the stacks. Kaiper shot threw one stack knocking them over. yAs she approached General Guy, he kicked her back and she almost his Green Guy, but missed, then hit the wall of the boat and shot the other stack down, knocking them down. Mario and Luigi by now were up and Green guy gave Luigi his hammer back. The 4 ran in and used special attacks to knock them all out.

"Urgh! All right then, Shy Sailors, ATTACK!"

About 100 Shy Sailors all came charging at the 4. But they knew what to do. Mario and Luigi Held their hammers out and swung them in circles knocking out those that approached. Green Guy stood on top of Kaiper and started to spin her around. Then Green Guy and kaiper would move themselves around knocking out all the Shy Sailors. Soon they were all gone, but the 4 were dizzy, however they were able to use some of the items they bought to heal back to full strength. They then all powered up, and combined their strength to make a giant blast. They hit the ship and all the Shy Sailors flew off. The shock even sent our heroes back.

"Urgh…DARN IT DARN IT DARN IT! They barely even scratched you! And I thought Bowser was going to be a problem! YOU'VE GROWN TOO STRONG! AND I WILL NOT LOSE MARIO! I WILL N-O-T LOSE! DO YOU HEAR ME YOU STUPID PLUMBER YOU!"

The Shadow Star Spirit Piece in General Guy's pocket began to glow. It blinked and began to let its energy out. General Guy instantly powered up with the darkness and became more powerful then ever. He sent out a dark blast that sent our 4 heroes back to the wall.

"Wh…What the? This power is amazing! Shy Guy! Find out what this is!" said General Guy to the few Shy Guys left.

General Guy then began to float in the air. He must have been more powerful then ever. He then charged at the 4.

**BATTLE!**

Mario and Luigi both jumped in the air and Kaiper charged. General Guy just went faster. He powered up, and went right through Kaiper at super fast speed, knocking her out. Green Guy dove out of the way barely dodging the charge. Mario and Luigi then came down and began to spin really fast. They both jumped at General Guy. General Guy floated over the water, and then powered up a huge blast. He shot it at the 3. Mario, Luigi, and Green Guy all ran up and hit the blast as hard as they could. The blast slowly flew back at General Guy. But he was gone. General Guy then came by them and flew right through all of them at super fast speed and punched them all into the ground, defeated.

"AH HA HA HA! This power is INCREDIBLE! If I knew about this, then I could easily take over the world."

"Uh…Lord General Guy?" said a Shy Guy that came.

"?"

"We researched your sudden power and discovered what is making you power up."

"Well duh, it's this Shadow Star Spirit Piece," said General Guy as he showed him.

"And now you can't use it anymore."

"WHAT!?"

"This is a power the Shadow Star Spirit Pieces give to those who feel evil. But it only works once they don't know about it. Now that you do, it won't work."

"WHAT! Heh heh, well that's okay," said General Guy as he turned to Mario and co. who were barely okay.

"Mario, this power is a once in a lifetime opportunity, and I won't let it go to waste. So…as some last words, you were a great man, an inspiration to many…but now, your time is up. Farewell, Mario, the savior."

General Guy then screamed, "BRING THE G IANT LASER BEAM!"

Suddenly, a giant hatch opened on the back of the ship. Slowly, a giant laser beam came out and was pointed right at Yoshi's Island.

"Fire up the laser!"

"Yes sir…you do know it will take time?"

"We've got all the time in the world," said General Guy, "Farewell Mario Bros, your friend, and that traitor. You and all of Yoshi's Island will soon be at the bottom of the sea."

The Giant Laser on the ship began powering up. The blast was getting extremely large and it looked like it could actually destroy the island. Our heroes slowly woke up.

"M-Mario," said Kaiper, "We've got to stop that blast before he blows up the island."

"But what can we do?" asked Luigi.

They looked to see the blast slowly getting bigger.

"Man," said Green Guy, "I've never heard of something so evil!"

"I know," said Kaiper, "It makes me wonder."

"What?" asked Luigi.

"What if absorbing the Shadow Star Spirit not only makes you more powerful, but more dark and evil. What if General Guy plans to destroy the whole kingdom before his power up fades."

"Uh…guys."

Everyone looked at Green Guy.

"I think there is a way we can stop all this."

"WHAT! HOW?"

"Well, behind the giant laser, there's a small glass dome on the ship. This dome actually has the control room under it and it is the power source."

"Wait, so all we have to do is destroy it and the ship will sink!"

"I think so."

The 4 slowly got up, not ready to give up. They all charged.

"Heh heh," said General Guy, "You think you can win?"

General Guy then teleported and he disappeared. The 4 slowly ran over to the dome. Just then General Guy appeared, hit Mario, and disappeared. He did this repeatedly to everyone, until they all were once again defeated, at the front end of the ship, all their power was drained.

Mario got up and looked at the laser. The laser was almost done powering up. Kaiper then looked at Mario. She could tell he wasn't about to give up. He was ready to fight till the end to save the world. He was believing in light more then ever. Kaiper then remembered what to do. She grabbed the Power Star out of her pocket and threw it at Mario. It touched Mario, and he felt it, but didn't care because he was too concerned with General Guy. The Power Star began to glow.

Mario then found the star surrounding him. It began to glow and went into Mario and it…didn't disappear. It went into Mario's pocket and he instantly gained a TON of power. Kaiper was stunned to see the new Mario. He had a bright yellow cape and was sparkling. Kaiper pulled out a mushroom and healed herself, then ran up to Mario and got in her shell. He picked her up and flew towards General Guy at lightning speed.

"What the!" said General Guy.

Mario charged and threw Kaiper at him at lightning speed. She hit, and General Guy flew back into the ship. Mario then flew at him. General Guy flew into the air and charged at Mario. The 2 flew through the air punching, and flying everywhere. Luigi and Green Guy were stunned. Mario then powered up a giant light blast and General Guy powered up a giant dark blast. The 2 fired and made a huge explosion. Meanwhile, the ship powered up and was ready to fire. Kaiper ran to the back with the laser. She ran past it and saw the glowing dome. As Mario and General Guy battled, she ran up to it, and…with all her might, she slammed into it, and punched it a thousand times. The Laser began to fire. Suddenly, the whole ship shifted so it was now diagonal and the front of it was in the air, from the blast of Kaiper. The laser fired.

Meanwhile, General Guy tricked Mario by firing a quick blast, then disappearing. He then punched Mario into the ground and powered up a blast. But then Mario went into the ground. He came up behind General Guy and punched him as hard as he could at the laser (which was now pointed up). The laser fired a gigantic blast into the air, and it went right at General Guy. Defeated, he dropped the Shadow Star Spirit Piece and fell onto the sinking ship. Mario quickly flew by at top speed, grabbed the Shadow Star Spirit Piece, grabbed Kaiper, Luigi, and Green Guy, and flew back to the island.

As the ship sank, a small capsule launched out of it with General Guy and about 3 Shy Guys. Meanwhile, our heroes landed and Mario fell down, knocked out. Everyone quickly went to his aid, and Kaiper secretly took the Power Star back.

Mario got up to see the Yoshi leader and some Yoshis behind him. He was on a bed.

"Hello Mario. We had to help you guys after you got rid of those Shy Guys for us. We're just glad you're okay."

""

"Yes your friends are here. Hey Guys! Mario's okay!"

Luigi, Kaiper and Green Guy ran in.

"Bro, you were amazing. I don't know how you did it, but…"

"And you got the Shadow Star Spirit Piece back!" said Kaiper.

"Oh!" said Mario as he pulled it out. He hadn't remembered a thing.

Everyone told him what happened, but Kaiper made sure no one heard of the Power Star. They all held up their first Shadow Star Spirit Piece and cheered.

**END OF CHAPTER**

**And so, Mario, Luigi, Kaiper, and their new friend Green Guy had successfully retrieved the Shadow Star Spirit piece and were able to save Yoshi's Island from General Guy. But they still need 3 more pieces. How will our heroes get them?**

-------------------------------------------------Bowser-------------------------------------------------

Bowser sat in his chair, talking with the Crystal King. As they were just about finished, the door opened, and in walked General Guy, followed by 4 more Shy Guys.

"Ah, General Guy, you're here. I assume that you have the Shadow Star Spirit piece the Crystal King was hiding. We've decided to keep it here," said Bowser.

"Well sir, we tried our best to help the Crystal King, but Mario and co came out of nowhere and stole it and ran to Yoshi's Island. We were eventually able to retrieve it, but as we were making our getaway, they stole the piece back."

"Liar! Mario didn't steal it, you did! You attacked me and stole the Shadow Star Spirit piece from me! You probably have it right now and would never give it to Bowser," said the Crystal King.

"How dare you question our loyalty to King Bowser! We Shy Guys follow our leaders with no question at all."

"Is that why your army destroyed my whole army, stole the piece, and fled to Yoshi's island?"

"We did no such thing!"

"SILENCE!" exclaimed Bowser, "Now I cannot trust either of you, however, General Guy, I expect your statement to be true that you will do whatever I say."

"Of course, your Majesty."

"Our sources have just discovered where the final Shadow Star Spirit piece is. It is in Glitzville. I was about to tell the Koopa Bros to go get the piece. You go to Glitzville too and get that piece. And if you see Mario, defeat him at all costs!"

"Yes Lord Bowser."

"And as for you Crystal King, I want you to retreat back to your palace and rebuild it along with an army, and I will call on you when needed."

"But…but…"

"Enough! Now, be gone, both of you!"

General Guy and the Crystal King walked out of the castle.

"I hope you don't think you can deceive Lord Bowser for long."

"Oh don't worry. Soon, I'll be the new Lord around here and there's nothing you can do about it."

Back at the castle Bowser spoke with Kammy Koopa.

"Kammy, I want you to go tell the Koopa Bros to go to Glitzville and search for the Shadow Star Spirit piece."

"But…there castle is so far away. Do I have to fly that far?"

"Yes, now go!"

"Sigh," said Kammy Koopa as she flew off to tell the Koopa Bros their next assignment.

------------------------------------------------Jr. Troopa-----------------------------------------------

Jr. Troopa was walking through Toad Town.

"Man, Mario beat me again. I chased him all the way to Yoshis Island and he still best me. This stinks. I need to find a place where I can train and become stronger. But where do I go?"

Jr. Troopa then noticed a sign on a billboard.

"Hm…what's this?"

The paper on the sign said:

Are you strong? Do you want to show people your talent and strength?

Then come to Glitzville, where a tournament is about to be held that will reveal who the strongest fighter in the Mushroom Kingdom is.

"Hm…Now this looks promising, I'd better fly on up to Glitzville to prove my strength. And who knows, maybe Mario will show up."

Jr. Troopa changed into his bat wing form and flew straight into the sky.

------------------------------------------------Mario----------------------------------------------------

_Chapter 4 will begin shortly_

The 4 rode a boat from the Yoshis back to Toad Town. They waved good-bye as the boat sailed back to Yoshis Island.

"All right, now what do we do?" asked Green Guy.

"Um…I know, let's go see Goompa again. Maybe he's found out where another Shadow Star Spirit piece is," said Luigi.

Mario nodded and the 4 headed over to Goomba Village to find Goompa.

They arrived to find Goompa. "Well, I'm glad you came to me, because I've found out where another piece is."

"Great, where is it?" asked Kaiper.

"Have any of you heard of Glitzville?"

"Ah yes," said Kaiper, "It lies directly North of the Post office in Toad Town, about 9.8 miles to be exact. Actually that is from the roof of the post office. From ground level would be about 9.87 miles."

Goompa just stared at Kaiper for that statement, and then resumed talking.

"Well, every year they have a tournament to see who the strongest is, and the one this year is about to begin. I suggest you participate and try to find the Shadow Star Spirit piece."

"Okay, thanks for your help, we'll be off now," said Luigi as the 4 headed back to Toad Town.

They found a blimp headed for Glitzville. They were going to buy tickets, but right when they saw Mario and Luigi they gave them all the tickets they wanted. They all got on the blimp except for Kaiper who made a quick visit to Star Haven. She asked the 7 Star Spirits if having a Shadow Star Spirit piece power up someone will also make them more evil. They responded by saying that yes, it is true. They then asked her about the Power Star. She told them that Mario used it, without knowing, but he only got the normal power up of about as much as 2 Shadow Star Spirits. She then asked if the Shadow Star Spirit was to be reborn, how powerful would it be? They told her about as strong as 3 Shadow Star Spirit Pieces. She ran back, told them everything the Star Spirits told her (except about the Power Star) and the gang flew towards Glitzville.

_To be continued…_


	5. Chapter 4: The Secret of Glitzville

I do not own any of the Mario characters and they are owned by Nintendo and Intelligent Systems

(When Mario says that means he's saying something like in the Paper Mario games, you just don't know what he's saying.)

**THIS CHAPTER IS SO LONG!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! AND SO GOOD!!!!!!**

**Paper Mario: The Shadow Star Spirit**

Mario, Luigi, Kaiper, and Green Guy all looked out of the blimp they were in to see their destination: Glitzville.

**Chapter 4**

**The Secret of Glitzville**

As the blimp arrived, they stepped out and looked around. It was pretty amazing. (If you've played Paper Mario: TTYD, it looks like Glitzville looks in that game.) There were 2 big shops on the right and left of the floating city, and there was also a telephone booth and hot dog stand on the left. At the front in the back was a massive building with a smiling Chain Chomp face above the door. The 4 entered. Little did they know that right behind them, the Koopa bros were landing on Glitzville in the Koopa Cruiser. As our heroes entered, they spotted a sign with a pen. They walked over. It was a sign up sheet where fighters signed to battle. The 4 walked over and quickly signed up. After that, they heard noise coming from a door. They were walking over to it, when suddenly; a Toad with a purple cape that covered up her mouth and nose flew down in front of them.

"So, the great Mario has come to the tournament this year. My my, won't this be a fun year," said the Toad.

"Um…excuse me…who are you?" asked Green Guy.

"Ha! I am the great Toad Thief! You'd better watch out, because I'm the best there is. My quick cunning skills make me one of the best thieves there are."

"A…thief!?" exclaimed Luigi.

"Heh, don't worry, I'll spare you…this time, but the next time we meet, you might find yourselves losing some coins."

The Mysterious Toad jumped into the air. She went into a hole in the ceiling and then sealed it.

"Huh…who was that?"

"Hm…there are probably other thieves around here since this tournament is so big since it only happens once a year. Not to mention the great Mario will be here. We should be on our guard," advised Kaiper.

They continued to the door and opened it to find a big yellow bird like creature fighting a Whomp and 2 Thwomps. The bird jumped up and slammed the ground. Items fell from the ceiling. A huge anvil landed on a Thwomp knocking it out. After that the Whomp tried to slam on it, but the bird dodged it, then did a super slam on the Whomp to knock it out. The Thwomp then squashed the bird, but the bird was able to barely throw it off of himself. Then it floated into the air and slammed on the Thwomp knocking it off the arena and knocking it out.

"All right! It looks like Rawk Hawk is still the champion here, so, any words about the tournament coming up?" said a Koopa with a bowtie and microphone.

"Heh, you think I'm scared at all of any of these wimps? Because I'm not! No one can stand up to the Hawk. I'm the strongest there is, and there ain't no one who can beat me."

"Well well well, we'll soon find out if you can keep to those words. In the mean time, we are about to unveil the chart of the tournament. So, we would like all warriors to please come to the main arena," said the Koopa host that went through the speakers.

The 4 sat down in a seat in the arena and listened to the host.

They then let a huge chart fall in the center of the arena. It involved many lines with numbers that represented the participants. However, Rawk Hawk was put in the semifinals.

"Now, because Rawk Hawk won the mini tournament just now, he will start off in the semi-finals. Also, you fighters should be getting a number just now. The number will show where you are on the chart and what place you are in. Also, if you lose once, you are out. You probably also see times next to the fights. This is what time each fight will begin. If you do not show up in your time frame, you will be disqualified. So, please go to the gym room to receive your number."

All the participants along with Mario and co went to the gym room where they were given numbers. After they got their number, Mario and co headed to the front room where the chart now was. They saw that they were fighting in about 5 minutes after the previous fight. They were going to the upstairs and less popular arena. There were 2 arenas so the fights could go faster. They entered their arena to see who was fighting before them, and who would fight them in the next round if they won. They were surprised to see the Koopa bros easily defeat their opponent. Then they walked out passed Mario. As they passed each other:

"Our new power will destroy you in the next round," said Red to Mario.

Then they walked away and Mario and co walked into the arena.

"Well, they're still as overconfident as usual, huh bro?"

Mario nodded. Just then, some Koopas and Goombas hopped onto the arena.

"Oh man, this is going to be sooooooooooo easy," said Kaiper.

**Um………Battle!**

The 4 used their special attacks and jumps on all the Goombas and Koopas giving them an easy win.

"Well, that was easy, we have 1 more battle today, and you all know who it's against. So, let's be ready," said Luigi as the 4 walked outside.

They went to a shop and bought some items, returned, rested, and headed to the main arena for the next battle. The 4 couldn't help but notice that there were much more people at this battle then the others. Because of this, the Koopa host was there. As they stood and waited, the koopa bros approached.

"Well Mario, I guess this is it. Whoever wins this battle will probably be the winner of this whole tournament," said Red.

Mario nodded.

"You will soon feel the wrath of our new power."

The 8 faced each other and the koopa host walked in the middle.

"All right then, fighters…**BATTLE!"**

The Koopa Bros all got in their shells and started spinning real fast. Eventually they spun so fast that they started to glow. Then blasts of light shot from one and went from one to the other until they made a huge square of light (with nothing on the inside). Then they shot super fast at the 4. Mario and Luigi tried jumping on them but it had no effect. Kaiper got in her shell and slammed into Yellow but it did nothing. Green Guy jumped between them all so he landed in the glowing square. Then he jumped out and ran to the others. After that the line between Yellow and Black disconnected from Yellow so it was only connected to Black. The other side of the line slowly moved toward Mario. After it was pointed at Mario, Black slowly moved toward the end. Then right when he wasn't touching the light lines, he shot at Mario. Mario pulled out his hammer and whacked Black. But it did nothing, and black hit Mario knocking him to the ground. Black then went back to the light lines like a boomerang and when he got back the line reconnected with Yellow. After that they started to shoot themselves more rapidly and it was becoming a problem.

They began shooting at Green Guy. He knew he had to use his best attack ever. Green Guy transformed into an Indian Shy Guy (from Mario Power Tennis). He had an object that looked like a disk and it had a picture of a lightning bolt on it. Green Guy started to swing it around. Outside there were dark clouds over the arena. Red then shot at Green Guy. Thankfully, Kaiper was whacked as hard as ever by Luigi into Red and he was barely hit off course, but he knocked Kaiper out. Green Guy then held his disk up into the air. A lightning bolt shot down making a hole in the ceiling and hit Green Guy's disk electrifying it. Green Guy then jumped back, and pointed it at the light line left open by red. He made a quick noise, powered up, and shot the lightning bolt out of the disk and zapped the line. The electricity crossed over the whole line electrifying each Koopa bro. The blast of a powerful lightning bolt had knocked them all out in one shot. Green Guy then turned back into a Shy Guy and was about to fall down when Mario caught him. Red was shocked and quickly got into his shell. Luigi then came from behind, powered up, and hit Red as hard as he could.

"This battle is over! And the winners are…Mario's Team! Congragulations!"

Luigi and Kaiper were exhausted and Mario could barely get Green Guy to talk.

"That was…my best…attack…I'm so glad it…was able to work…"

Mario grabbed Green Guy and carried him away, followed by Luigi.

"Hey Koopa Bros!" said Kaiper, "Give us your Shadow Star Spirit Piece! We won after all."

"Never!" said Red as he and the rest of the Koopas ran out.

Kaiper would've chased them but she was too tired.

Green Guy woke up the next morning to see that he was okay. He looked to his left to see Mario and Luigi sleeping. Then he looked in front of himself to see Kaiper on the right side of his bed reaching to take his mask off.

"AAAAHHHH!!" he screamed as he ran over to the bros.

"What was that?" said Luigi as he and Mario woke up.

"Oh nothing, I was just playing with Green Guy."

"N-n-n-no, that's not true. She tried to take my mask off."

Luigi looked at Kaiper aggravated. But the 3 were interrupted by a Guard.

"Oh. You're awake, thank goodness. Your next battle is waiting."

"But we just got up," argued Kaiper.

"Would you rather be disqualified?"

As they walked out, Kaiper hit the guard. During the day, they fought 2 battles and won both. After that, they walked out of the arena to look around. Suddenly, a Toad with a blue mask and cape ran out with some items and coins and was gone in a second. The owner then ran out of the store.

"Hey! Give that back! You can't just go stealing things like that!" screamed the owner, "… darn, he got away."

"See what I mean about those thieves. We better watch out," said Kaiper.

They were going into the store when they heard a strange sound coming from the side of the store. Mario, Kaiper and Green Guy walked in. As Luigi walked, he was too busy looking around for thieves and mysterious stuff that he walked around and behind the store. He noticed, and was about to walk back when he heard a strange noise underground.

"Yes, Mario is here and so are some of Bowser's men."

"Darn it. They must've found out about this piece we have."

"What are we going to do my lord?"

"Um…just continue to fight in the tournament with the others. We need to get our men ready for an attack or a retreat off of this place."

"Yes, sir."

Then it was silent.

"I wonder if those guys mean a Shadow Star Spirit piece. And…they're hiding it underground! Hmm…man this is big, I should tell the others," said Luigi as he ran back to the entrance and into the store.

On top of the store was the mysterious Toad they ran into earlier. She watched Luigi run by. Then the Toad with the blue mask and cape popped up next to her.

"Man, if we can steal that thing, we'll be rich. It looks like a lot of guys are going after it."

The next day, they walked to the sign to see that there were already only 4 teams left and so the 3 battles today would determine the winner. Mario and co walked to the arena to see their opponents. It was the 2 Thwomps and Whomp they had seen earlier. The 2 teams went to the arena and eyed each other. The Koopa host then approached.

"All right then…**BATTLE!"**

The 2 Thwomps both started to slam all over the arena. Mario and Luigi jumped around and the bros eventually jumped on them, but they were so hard that they couldn't scratch them. The whomp then snuck up behind Kaiper while she was dodging. Kaiper quickly ran before the Whomp slammed onto the ground. Green Guy noticed this and quickly jumped, powered up, and slammed on the Whomp to knock it out. Meanwhile, the thwomps hit the ceiling squashing Mario and Luigi. Luigi fell off and hit the floor barely okay, but Mario was okay. Mario then had an idea. He looked at Luigi and Kaiper and nodded. While Green Guy distracted the other Thwomp, Luigi powered up and slammed Kaiper (in her shell) into the air straight at Mario. A Thwomp came and was about to slam on Luigi, when Mario jumped and Luigi dodged the Thwomp. Mario then powered up his hammer and slammed Kaiper as hard as he could at the Thwomp. Kaiper slammed into the Thwomp making a small hole and some cracks. Mario then got his hammer ready again and as he fell he slammed on the Thwomp's spot where Kaiper hit and the Thwomp broke. The other looked at his dead brother stunned. Mario, Luigi, and Kaiper looked at him and smiled. The Thwomp just jumped out of the ring and ran out the door.

"And the winner is…Mario!!!" said the host.

Mario and co jumped off of the arena and walked toward the shop happy that they were going to be in the finals.

"I bet the next person we fight will be that Rawk Hawk guy," said Kaiper.

"Well, there's always a chance that it could be the other fighter," said Green Guy.

"Oh no! How could they have actually killed one of us?" came a voice from a room.

"!"

They crept slowly and peeked through the door to see the Thwomp and Whomp talking.

"I can't believe Mario is strong enough to actually kill a Thwomp. I mean, you guys are as hard as rock."

"I know, now I don't think I'll be able to sleep at night."

"With Mario getting stronger and Bowser's minions coming, it looks like everybody knows about the Shadow Star Spirit piece here."

"We'd better start preparing everyone for a battle or we're going to be in big trouble."

"Mario, I think now would be a good time to stop them," said Green Guy.

The 4 instantly barged into the room. However, they were gone with no trace. There were some boxes, but that was it, and they had no idea where they could've gone. They quickly searched all the boxes but found nothing. It was hopeless. So, they decided to leave and just fight the final match tomorrow. As they walked, they said:

"I knew those Thwomps and Whomps were up to something. They must be the ones who are holding the Shadow Star Spirit," said Kaiper.

"But how do we find them, they went in the room and disappeared?" asked Luigi.

"I think that we should examine the room a lot more tomorrow after we become the champions," said Kaiper.

"Don't get your hopes up, the finalist might be strong," said Green Guy.

"Yah, but we're stronger," said Kaiper.

Green Guy and Luigi sighed.

As they were about to go to bed, they went around talking about the fight to discover that Rawk Hawk had lost and that Mario and co would be fighting the other fighter in the finals. The next day the fight came. The 4 walked onto the stage and looked around. The arena was packed. Then, the koopa host came out.

"Well folks it's finally here. The finals are here and it's looking to be the best fight yet. Now, here in the first corner is Mario's Team. We have the one and only Mario himself, his brother Luigi, and…a Koopa and a Shy Guy."

"Geez, I guess we're a big part of the team here," said Kaiper as they walked up.

"And we would've lost to the koopa bros if it wasn't for me!"

"And in the second corner we have the outstanding person who was able to defeat Rawk Hawk. And here he comes. It is…"

Everyone watched and waited to who would walk through the door to fight Mario, especially Mario. To everyone's surprise, it was…Jr. Troopa!?

"Jr. Troopa! Yes folks he may look small but he packs quite a punch. This will be a battle to remember."

"Jr…Troopa!?" exclaimed Luigi, "What!? Why is he here!?"

Jr. Troopa walked onto the stage.

"Heh, surprised to see me, huh? You should've expected me to get this far, after all, I am your arch-rival. "

"Uh…sure, but why are you here? You're not after the Shadow Star Spirit piece are you?" asked Green Guy.

"The What!? No, I just figured I could get stronger here, and I have gotten stronger. I now have a new form and it will destroy you guys!"

"We've already beat you twice before and you think you can beat us again? Ha!" said Kaiper arrogantly.

"Urgh! I'll show you guys," said Jr. Troopa.

"Ahem. Anyways...let's **BATTLE!"**

Jr. Troopa started by transforming into his new form. He looked just like himself, except he had a gold whistle.

"Ha! When I blow this, any weak enemy comes under my control! Here, you'll be the first to experience its power."

He blew the whistle super loud and everyone anxiously waited for what would happen next. Suddenly, each member in the crowd's eyes started to turn all red. Then about half of the crowd jumped onto the stage surrounding Jr. Troopa. They all charged at Mario and co. Mario and Luigi brought out their hammers and swung them in circles while hitting everyone. Kaiper got in her shell and spun around really fast while moving. Green Guy changed into his lightning form. He was able to shoot a lightning bolt that knocked many people out, but there were too many people and they soon tackled him. Soon our heroes were in dire trouble as Mario and Luigi got hit too. So, Luigi then powered up, and with all his might threw his hammer at Jr. Troopa who was still blowing his whistle. The hammer hit the whistle and the whistle went flying through the air. Suddenly, everyone turned back to normal. They looked around and wondered what happened. Even the host was at shock. Jr. Troopa ran back to get the whistle, but before he could Kaiper slammed into him and he flew and hit the wall. Mario then appeared behind him, powered up, and punched him as hard as he could. Then as he came down, Green Guy shocked Jr. Troopa with a lightning bolt.

"And the um…winner is….Mario's Team! They are the new champions!"

"Man, how could I lose again?" said Jr. Troopa.

No one knew what happened, but they were happy that Mario won. Apparently, Jr. Troopa hadn't used that attack up till now because he didn't have to. But in the end, Mario prevailed. As the 4 walked out, they were praised, but knew that they had more important things to worry about at that moment.

They waited until there weren't any fans around and went in their room (champions room) to talk.

"Funny, I thought that once we were champions everything would make sense," said Luigi.

"Yah, me too. But…don't we get like…a prize or something," said Green Guy.

Suddenly the Koopa host came in with a box.

"Good day new champions. Now, as the champions, you may have guessed that you win a prize. So, here it is. "

The host (have you noticed that I never identify whether the host is a boy or a girl?) opened the box and pulled out a bag with a ton of money.

"200 coins is your prize, but I want you to come and boost advertising for this place…ok?"

"Um…ok, thank you," said Kaiper as she accepted the prize.

The koopa host walked out and they took the bag of money and put it in their pockets.

"Ok, now we should go and continue to look in that room for hints on the Thwomps and Whomps," said Kaiper.

Mario nodded and they all walked to the room and looked around, but sadly, nothing was found.

"Urgh! We are never going to find it," said Green Guy angrily.

Suddenly, the mysterious thief Toad flew down and landed on Green Guy. Green Guy instantly froze and just stood there hoping the Toad wouldn't hurt him.

"I know how to get to their secret base underground," she said.

"Really! Well then, could you show us where it is?"

"Heh, what, did you think I would be a nice guy and do if for free? It'll cost you that prize money you won there."

Luigi sighed and said, "I knew it was too good to be true."

Mario handed the Toad the money. She took it, examined it, and put it in her pocket.

"Well, glad to see that you work well. (Whispering: Too bad it will all be for nothing)."

"Hmm, what did you say?" asked Luigi.

"Hmm, nothing, I was just"-

The toad accidentally fell off of Green Guy. Green Guy quickly ran behind Kaiper scared looking at the Toad. Kaiper grinned. He looked at her, then he ran behind Luigi and looked at the Toad and Kaiper scared. The toad stood up.

"Eh-hmm, okay, now, I need you all to stand in the center of the room. (They did as ordered) Okay, now all of you jump and slam the ground as hard as you can. Actually, I'll help."

The toad walked over to them and they all slammed on the ground as hard as they could. Nothing happened. The Toad walked a little bit away from the center of the room. Suddenly the floor shook for a moment. Then the part of the floor they were in fell to the ground. Underground, the Toad jumped down while the others recovered from the sudden blow.

"Perfect! Now then, this is a huge dungeon the Whomps created in case intruders came. It's dangerous, so I'll join you guys for now, ok?"

"Oh yah."

"Ok, thank you guys a lot for the money. My name is Toadia. (Toadia put her cape down revealing her face.) And what are your names?"

"Well, you already know Mario here," said Luigi, "And you also know me, his brother, right?"

"Wait, Mario has a brother?"

Luigi ran back and started crying.

"Uh, heh heh," said Kaiper, "Just ignore Luigi. I'm Kaiper, a Koopa scholar. This is Green Guy, a shy guy. And, while we're at it, how long have you had your mask on Green Guy?"

"Uh…my whole life."

"And you've never taken it off?"

"Uh…no."

"Well…THERE'S A FIRST TIME FOR EVERYTHING!"

Kaiper chased Green Guy around and he screamed as they ran. Toadia looked at Mario.

"How the heck did a couple of weirdos like them get stuck with you?" asked Toadia.

Mario looked up and thought for a moment. He looked at Luigi crying and Kaiper chasing Green Guy. He looked at Toadia and shrugged. Toadia just rolled her eyes and walked into the dungeon wondering how they won the tournament. Mario got the others to stop and they followed.

**Toadia joined your team!**

As they entered the first room, they saw just a blank room where the door was at the end. Luigi took a couple steps but Toadia stopped him. She took off Luigi's hat and threw it into the middle of the room. Right when it hit the ground, spikes shot up hitting the hat. Toadia jumped high into the air and smashed through the ceiling making a hole.

"Come on up here."

"How?" asked Luigi.

Green Guy jumped off of Kaiper, off of Mario, and then jumped as high as he could off of Luigi. Toadia grabbed him and pulled him up.

"Okay, who's next?"

"How do we get up there? Green Guy is lighter then all of us," said Luigi.

"Good point. Well, we'll search for a way out. In the mean time you guys stay here."

Toadia and Green Guy walked along the small vent in the roof and eventually came to a hole. Toadia peered down, then dropped down into an empty room. Green Guy followed.

"Um…what is this place?" he asked.

"Do you really think I know?"

Suddenly 4 Whomps came out of the wall and closed in on them.

"Aw great," said Toadia, "Ready for a fight?"

"Well, I never have gone it alone, but I'll give it a shot."

**BATTLE!**

All 4 Whomps suddenly charged at them. Toadia and Green Guy jumped into the air and the 4 crashed into each other and fell to the ground. Toadia and Green Guy powered up as they came down, and slammed on a Whomp to take out 2 of them. The other 2 got up. They started to chase them. Eventually Toadia leaped into the ceiling and the Whomp chasing her looked around. She landed behind him, and slammed into him knocking it to the ground. She powered up and slammed on it as hard as she could, knocking it out. Suddenly, the other Whomp appeared and was about to slam on her. Toadia closed her eyes. Green Guy ran in, grabbed her, and escaped the Whomp's slam. Then he jumped and slammed on the last Whomp with all his power. Toadia was in a little shock because she was almost slammed on. Green Guy walked over.

"Are you ok? Sorry about him almost slamming on you. I should've watched him."

"No, it's ok," said Toadia as she stood up, "Thank you Green Guy."

Toadia smiled happily. Green Guy couldn't help but blush. They continued to the next room and found a switch. They stepped on it and looked around. Nothing happened. Meanwhile, at Mario's room the spikes all shot up creating a path to the door. Mario, Luigi, and Kaiper slowly walked along the path and entered the door. They came to the room where Green Guy and Toadia fought the 4 Whomps. They headed into the next room to find Green Guy and Toadia and the party was reunited.

They entered the next and final room where they found the Whomp and Thwomp they had beaten, and the Whomp King.

"Ehh? Who are you?" said the Whomp King as they entered.

"Ack! King, these are the ones that beat us and even killed Henry!"

"Oh no! My lord, run, run now!"

"Run where?" said the King.

"Um…."

The Whomp King held up his Shadow Star Spirit piece.

"This is what you want, isn't it? Well, you're going to have to beat us if you want it!"

**BATTLE!**

The Thwomp and Whomp both charged at Mario and co. Mario ran out ahead in front of the Thwomp. The Thwomp slammed toward Mario but he dodged it, then jumped on the Thwomp. He started making faces at the Whomp. The Whomp then slammed on the Thwomp but Mario jumped off so he missed (boy those Whomps are dumb). The Whomp and Thwomp stood there frozen, then they looked at each other and both broke apart as everyone slammed on them. The Whomp King then charged. Mario ran back to the others as they ran ahead. Toadia jumped off the wall and bounced behind Whomp King. Kaiper shot and went right through the Whomp King. Mario, Luigi, and Green Guy tried to run by him, but he then tried to slam on them. Luckily, they all ran back, and before he could get up, Kaiper and Toadia slammed on the Whomp King. He got up and then tried slamming on Toadia and Kaiper, but barely missed. Mario and Luigi followed by Green Guy all slammed on him.

"All right, all right, I give up, just take it."

The Whomp King threw the piece into the back of the room and ran. The 5 walked up to it.

"All right, another one. But just as they were about to grab it, Toadia zipped by them and grabbed it."

"!"

"Toadia! Wha-Wha-What are you doing?" asked Green Guy.

"I am sorry, you are all good people, but I need this. There are a lot of people who will pay a ton of money for this thing."

"Why do you only want money!? There's more to life then just money!" exclaimed Luigi.

"Yes, but I need it, I'm sorry.

Toadia jumped into the ceiling once again creating a hole."

"Crap! Now what do we do?" said Kaiper.

""

"What!? Send me after her!?" said Green Guy.

"Yah, you're as small as her Green Guy. You can do it. Come on. We'll catch up to you on the way out," said Luigi.

"Sigh, ok."

Mario and Luigi both threw Green Guy into the ceiling, then the 3 headed for the exit while Green Guy chased Toadia.

Meanwhile, at the Plaza of Glitzville, Twink came out of the arena. He flew over to a bar and went inside. He sat down next to a Toad that looked old and wise.

"Excuse me sir," said Twink.

"Hm, what is it young Star?"

"I have heard that you know a lot about Glitzville and know many things."

"Ha ha ha. I guess you could say that. I am the oldest Toad here. Maybe I am the wisest. So, what is it you would like to ask?"

"Well…have you noticed all the Koopas here lately? Why are they here?"

"Heh, it's because of those Koopa Bros. They brought them all up here and they are waiting for something to happen I think."

"Hm…very strange."

"Yes, this tournament has been very strange."

"Huh?"

"Well. I've been in Glitzville for a while now. This tournament they do every here has been big, but never this big. The Koopa Bros came, Mario came, and all the fighters this year seem stronger."

"Hm."

"All that I can say is, there's gonna be a big battle here soon. All these people here are looking for something. And when one of them finds it, everyone else is going to come and fight for it, you know what I mean?"

"Uh…"

"Haven't you heard what some people are saying?"

"Well…not really."

"Well…some folks are saying that they are seeing giant ships floating close to Glitzville and looking like they're waiting for something."

"Really?"

"Yep, one Toad says he saw a ship with a huge Shy Guy mask on it, and another said he saw a ship with a Whomp statue on it."

"Wow…well, I guess something really big is going to happen."

"Yep, and my gut tells me that this huge battle may decide the fate of the whole Mushroom Kingdom."

"What!? Well, I guess you're right. Thanks for your help, good bye," said Twink as he flew out of the bar.

"Good Bye little Star Kid."

Outside, Twink couldn't help but wonder.

"Hm…well, now that I think about it, the Koopa Bros have 1 Shadow Star Spirit Piece, Mario has another, and the last one must be close by…that means…that WHOEVER WINS THIS BIG BATTLE WILL GET 3 OF THE 4 SHADOW STAR SPIRIT PIECES!"

Twink quickly flew around looking for Mario.

Back in the dungeon, Toadia was crawling through a small vent and had just come out into a small room when she heard a noise.

"Toadia! Stop!"

"!" said Toadia as Green Guy ran to her.

"Please Toadia, we already gave you a bunch of coins, isn't that enough?"

"Possibly, but with this, my family and I can finally have a good life, so stop following me!" said Toadia as she ran into the next room.

"My family?" questioned Green Guy, "Hmm…! Toadia, wait!"

Meanwhile, Mario and the gang were just about out of the secret passage when-

"Hold it Mario!"

"!" said the 3 as the Whomp King and a ton of Whomps and Thwomps surrounded them.

"Give my piece back, now!"

"But we don't have it," said Kaiper.

"Hmm…cowards. All right then…ATTACK!"

All the Whomps attacked and Mario, Luigi, and Kaiper were fighting for their lives. Meanwhile, back with Green Guy, Toaida had run into a fork in the path. When Green Guy came, he didn't know which way, so he went right. Toadia came down from the ceiling and ran left. Toadia ran and ran but then fell down a hole screaming. She then entered a room full of sleeping piranha plants. She slowly walked out of the room, but then accidentally stepped on a chip…they remained asleep. She walked more and was just about there when she slipped in a puddle.

"Ow!" she said.

Toadia instantly covered her mouth. They were still asleep. She made it and let out a quiet "sigh," then covered her mouth again. They all woke up. Toadia closed her eyes. As a piranha plant was about to bite her…Green Guy flew down the ceiling and landed on its head. Then he bounced on all their heads, grabbed Toadia, and ran. After a chase, they were okay and were in another room.

"Thanks a lot Green Guy, I owe you my life, or I guess I could give you this Shadow Star Spirit piece."

"Really?"

"No! I need this. I'm sorry. How about this, I'll give it to you for…100 coins."

"Mario has all the coins! And how can you say that!? I just saved your life!"

"Well…"

Green Guy looked at Toadia mad. Toadia then had an idea. She made her eyes look real big, and Green Guy couldn't stay mad any longer and he even blushed a little. Toadia saw this, so she then kissed Green Guy. He fell on the floor of embarrassment and Toadia quickly made her getaway. Green Guy got up and looked around.

"How…how could you do something like that!?…urgh!"

Green Guy chased after her wondering which way she went. Meanwhile Mario and co. decided to run away and the 3 had just gotten into the plaza where the Koopa bros were.

"Mario! What are you doing running out here so quickly!?" exclaimed Red.

Just then the Whomp King and his crew busted out!

"Hand over your Shadow Star Spirit piece Mario!"

"What the!" said Red, "Wait, are you guys the one who had the piece here?"

"What?" said the Whomp King, "We used to have it until Mario here stole it!"

"Wait, so now Mario has 2 Shadow Star Spirit Pieces and we only have 1!?" said Red, "That's not fair!"

"What," said the Whomp King, "You guys have 1 too, and Mario has 2!?"

"Oops," said Red.

"Hey!" said Luigi, "We only have 1!"

"Shut up!" came a voice.

Everyone quickly looked around wondering who said that. Suddenly Luigi pointed and screamed:

"WHAT IS THAT!"

Everyone looked to see a giant floating ship with a huge Shy Guy Mask on it. It was round on the ends with the masks and the masks were connected by bars to a huge square in the middle. On top of the square was…General Guy.

"Those 3 pieces belong to us Shy Guys and we will not let you take them," said General Guy as a whole bunch of Shy Guys came from behind him.

"G-General Guy!" said Luigi.

"That's right, and I've come back for revenge," said General Guy.

"Heh, your Shy Guy army is nothing compared to my Thwomp and Whomp army," remarked the Whomp King.

"That's it! All Koopas Regroup!" screamed Red as all the Koopas ran behind him.

"Heh, General Guy and I are going to take those Shadow Star Spirits for Lord Bowser, right" said Red even though he wanted them for himself.

"I'll do no such thing!"

"WHAT!?"

"Heh heh, Bowser and I are allies no more and I will be taking those pieces for myself."

"Hm…something tells me we're all even here," said Red, "Except for poor Mario who has no army,"

"With our new power, us Shy Guys will destroy you all," said General Guy

"Watch out, we got some aces up our sleeves that will send you all down," said the Whomp King.

Kaiper then noticed that they did have a huge disadvantage. But Mario didn't care. He had believed in light once before and it worked, so why not now? Kaiper saw this opportunity. She secretly walked up to Mario, and put the star in his pocket. The Star glowed and Mario once again powered up and was now as strong as 2 Shadow Star Spirits. Not to mention he had his cape.

"Argh!" said General Guy, "That's the power that beat me last time. But it won't happened again."

Super Mario, Luigi, and Kaiper charged.

The Koopa Bros and their Koopa Army charged.

General Guy and his Shy Guy army jumped off the ship and charged.

The Whomp King and his Thwomp/Whomp army charged.

Every Toad and person there (including Twink) ran to the nearest store or to the arena to hide from this coming battle. Twink noticed the wise old Toad.

"It's begun," said Twink.

"Yes it has," he replied, "Now who will win?"

The 4 teams charged and as they all approached…

**BOOM! **A huge explosion came as everyone attacked and shot blasts everywhere.

Kaiper got in her shell and spun threw all the enemies. Just then the Whomp King slammed on her. Right after that Luigi came and whacked the Whomp King as hard as he could. As he landed, Luigi jumped over Green which shot at Luigi at full speed. The others were in their golden square form and quickly shot themselves everywhere. Luigi eventually got hit. Mario then came and slammed each Koopa Bro out of the way with his huge power. General Guy then came to slam on Mario. Mario flew under him and then shot a blast at General Guy. General Guy jumped over it, but then the Whomp King slammed on him. The Koopa Bros then all flew around Mario and all went into him. He flew way into the air. Then he flew down, powered up, and punched the ground with all his might. Giant blasts shot from all around him hitting everyone. General Guy then came from above and punched Mario into the arena.

Meanwhile, Toadia ran out of the arena, and was shocked at what was happening. Green Guy came out after her.

"I…heh…finally…heh…caught up to you…now…give…heh…the piece…heh…to me."

Toadia looked at Green Guy very sad, but then-

"Toadia! You're okay!" came a voice.

"!" said the 2 as the blue caped Toad and a poor mother Toad holding a baby Toad ran up to Toadia.

"Oh Toadia, I'm so glad you're okay," said the mother Toad, "But we must get out of here."

The Toads and Green Guy ran back into the arena and looked outside from it.

"What's happening?" asked Green Guy.

"They are all having a big battle for something."

"General Guy!" said Green Guy as he noticed him in the battle.

"Oh yah," said Toadia, "Look what I got mom."

She pulled out the bag of money and gave it to the Toad.

"Toadia!" exclaimed the Blue caped Toad, "This is so much! Nice job! We might be able to buy a small house if we just had a little more money."

"Well I have a" said Toadia, but then stopped as she noticed Green Guy. He was looking at the ground and she couldn't see his face.

"So this is why you wanted all that money. You had such a poor family and a baby sister and you needed money to live even though it was wrong, but you did it, because you loved them."

"Um…well…"

Green Guy then looked up and he was crying.

"Oh I'm so touched! That's such a great story! You know what Toadia, if you just told us that in the first place, we would've given you all of our money, sniff."

"Really!"

"Of course, but could you please give me the Shadow Star Spirit Piece now!"

"Sure thing," said Toadia, "But right now I think Mario needs our help."

"Right!"

Green Guy and Toadia both charged into the battle.

"Mario!" said Toadia as she waved her piece in the air, "I have the last…oops."

General Guy then shot at Toadia at full speed. Green Guy quickly shot him with a lightning bolt. As the armies came, Toadia jumped through them all. She pulled out little ninja knives and threw them at everyone. Meanwhile, Mario was winning. With his Star Power, he had destroyed the Koopa Bros new attack and the Whomp King was soon defeated. However, the Shy Guys were beating the Kooaps and Whomps.

"Aw man," said the Whomp King, "Even my forces are in trouble."

A Whomp minion ran up to him.

"Sir?"

"That's it! Whomp! Prepare the Whomper!"

The Whomp ran out to the ledge of the city and whistled. Suddenly, a huge Whomp Ship bigger then General Guy's Ship approached. It had a big Whomp Statue on the front and looked like a pirate ship (SMB3!). Suddenly, a hatch opened and out rose a Giant Whomp cannon.

"Fire the Whomper!" screamed the Whomp King as Kaiper took him down.

The cannon powered up, and then fired a giant blast at the center of the city. Everyone got hit and flew to the edge of the city. Luckily, none of the buildings got hit. However, a crater emerged in the center of the city.

"Ha ha ha!" said the Whomp King, "You can not beat us!"

"I don't think so," said General Guy as he ran back onto his ship.

He snapped his fingers and the laser that was on the Shy Guy Boat in Chapter 3 emerged.

"Power up the Shy Guy Laser!" said General Guy as it began powering up.

"Power up the Whomper!" said the Whomp King as his ship began powering up as well.

Mario then floated into the air between the 2 ships. He remembered that General Guy's Laser took a long time to power up. So, Mario then charged at the Whomp Ship at full speed.

"Fire the Whomper!" said the Whomp King.

General Guy knew what Mario was doing and quickly flew his ship below the city. Mario dodged the blast and it went right above General Guy's Ship. The Shy Guy Ship then rose back up and pointed at Mario.

"Fire the Laser!" said General Guy.

The Laser fired at Mario. Mario flew up super high to dodge it. The Laser hit the Whomp's ship. The blast caused the ship to explode and all the Whomps and Thwomps fell out and landed on the city.

"NO!" said the Whomp King.

"Prepare for another fire!" said General Guy.

The Ship began powering up for another shot. Meanwhile, Mario flew down and began powering up a light blast that would be as strong as ever.

"FIRE!"

The Shy Guy Ship fired the laser at Mario at full speed. Mario fired his blast at the laser. The 2 hit, but kept firing. Mario made sure the blast lasted for a while and the laser continued firing quickly as well. However, General Guy was powering up the laser with his Shy Guys, and Mario was losing strength. Just then, Red came out of nowhere and jumped right above Mario. He powered up, and…ZOOM! In an instant, Red seemed to go through Mario and he landed.

Mario didn't get hurt, but he quickly flew way into the air at super fast speed to dodge General Guy's Laser. Everyone wondered what Red had done. Just then he held up Mario's Shadow Star Spirit Piece.

"Ha ha! That new special attack of mine fooled you Mario. Now we have 2 Shadow Star Spirit Pieces!"

General Guy then began powering up his laser to fire at the Koopa Bros. Luigi, Kaiper, and the Whomp King then charged with their remaining foreces.

"Oh no!" said Toadia as she and Green Guy charged, "If that laser hits Glitzville, it might destroy it."

Everyone ran in and were about to battle when…

TWEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEET!!!!!!!!!!

"!" said everyone as they stopped and looked around.

Suddenly, every single minion's eyes slowly turned to red. Even the Shy Guys' eyes turned Red.

"What the?" said General Guy, "Fire the Laser You Dumb Shy Guys!"

The Shy Guys then charged at General Guy and they took him down. They all then ran with the Whomps and Kooaps and they took down everyone else because they were too weak from all the fighting. Jr. Troopa slowly walked up to the center with his whistle. The Koopa Bros and Whomp King along with Luigi and Kaiper and General Guy were winning eventually and the armies were almost depleted.

Jr. Troopa whistled again as loud as he could. This time, all the Toads and people in the stores ran out to help. With their red eyes, they toppled the Koopa Bros and Green Guy and Toadia (Mario is still way up in the air just so you know). As General Guy kicked everyone out of the way with his new power, he ran to the laser to power up another shot. Just then the Toads that got Red and Toadia ran up to Jr. Troopa.

"Lord Jr. Troopa, we found these. They are very special."

The minions then gave Jr. Troopa all 3 Shadow Star Spirit Pieces.

"What the heck are these? Oh well."

Jr. Troopa then noticed General Guy who was about to fire his laser. He quickly changed into his bat form and flew way into the air and barely dodged the laser. However, by changing, all of the minions turned back to normal and Jr. Troopa was alone.

"Heh, this was fun and all guys," said Jr. Troopa, "But where is M"-

Just then Mario came down at full light speed and slammed Jr. Troopa into the ground as hard as he could. The Koopa Bros then changed into their square and shot themselves at Jr. Troopa at full speed, hitting him way far. General Guy then came and kicked him as hard as he could to the center of the arena. The Whomp King then came and slammed Jr. Troopa into the ground. He hit the ground defeated.

Mario flew down next to Luigi, Kaiper, Green Guy, and Toadia. The Koopa Bros ran up with their few Koopas. The Whomp King ran up with his Whomps. General Guy hopped back onto the ship and was preparing to fire.

"Heh heh, they're all too distracted to notice. I'll finish them off in 1 shot."

Meanwhile, Luigi ran up to Jr. Troopa.

"Give us back those Shadow Star Spirit Pieces, or Mario and General Guy and the Koopa Bros will pound you even harder then before."

"Yah, come on you weakling," said Red.

"URGH!"

"?" said Mario.

Just then Jr. Troopa looked up and screamed.

"I HATE ALL OF YOU! YOU ALWAYS TEAM UP ON ME AND THEN YOU CALL ME A WEAKLING! IT'S ALL BECAUSE OF MARIO! I HATE HIM HATE HIM HATE HIM! I ALWAYS TRY TO WIN BUT I NEVER DO! URGH! I HATE MARIO! AND GENERAL GUY! AND THE KOOPA BROS! BUT ESPACIALLY MARIO! I JUST WISH YOU WOULD ALL JUST DIE!"

Just then, all 3 Shadow Star Spirit Pieces appeared around Jr. Troopa. They could feel his hate, his anger, his rage. Jr. Troopa was as dark as ever. All 3 Shadow Star Spirit Pieces went into Jr. Troopa. He then floated in the air and then screamed and let out huge energy everywhere. The blast shot everyone back to the edge. Even General Guy felt the blast. Jr. Troopa emerged, he was all black, but his shell was still white. He had pure red eyes and had the evil unstoppable power of 3 Shadow Star Spirits. He was now...Dark Jr. Troopa!

"I'LL KILL ALL OF YOU!"

The Koopa Bros instantly charged and so did Mario and co. and the Whomp King.

Jr. Troopa was so powerful he was able to teleport. He teleported behind Mario and kicked him way off the edge. He then teleported away from Luigi swinging his hammer and punched him at full speed into the building. Just then Kaiper and the Koopa Bros charged. Jr. Troopa teleported way above them, and powered up just a bit and shot a giant blast at all 5 of them. Then he disappeared. He teleported next to all the Toads and Koops and kicked and punched all of them with full power. Soon everyone was defeated.

"That…that's incredible," said General Guy from his ship, "But it's got to go!"

General Guy fired his full powered up laser at Jr. Troopa. Jr. Troopa then screamed and shot a super powerful blast at the laser blast. Jr. Troopa's blast was more powerful then the laser, and it went through and hit the ship at full power. The Ship exploded, and General Guy barely jumped off and onto the city.

"Th-That power," said General Guy.

Jr. Troopa then appeared in front of General Guy and kicked him into the arena at full speed.

"Heh heh, this power is incredible. No one can beat me now!"

"Oh no," said Twink from one of the stores, "The power of 3 Shadow Star Spirits is nearly invincible! How can we stop it?"

Jr. Troopa then went around kicking and shooting everyone including Twink until they were all on the verge of death and could barely move. Mario then flew back up to Glitzville, still with his Star Power. He flew at Jr. Troopa.

"Heh, come back for more, ay Mario?" laughed Jr. Troopa.

Mario charged at full speed. Jr. Troopa disappeared. He then appeared above Mario and kicked him straight into the ground. Jr. Troopa then appeared at the ground and shot a blast at Mario. Mario shot into the air. Jr. Troopa then appeared next to Mario. He threw a punch. Mario then flew up and dodged it. He grabbed Jr. Troopa's arm and threw him into the ground. Mario then shot a blast at Jr. Troopa. Jr. Troopa disappeared, then reappeared behind Mario. He powered up a very powerful kick, and then fired at full power. Mario went straight into the ground and was finished. The Star slowly fell out of Mario's pocket, all its power used up. Jr. Troopa then floated down and looked at everyone's knocked out bodies.

"Heh heh, this power is incredible. Now no one, not even the great Mario can stop me. All this power, what should I do? I…I…AH!!!!" screamed Jr. Troopa.

"Phew, that felt weird. But anyways, I'm going to create the biggest blast ever and destroy you all!"

Jr. Troopa then shot up into the air and began powering up a massive blast that soon became bigger then anything they'd ever seen. Meanwhile, back at Glitzville, Kaiper and Luigi were barely still conscious.

"Urgh…Luigi…" said Kaiper, "All 3 Shadow Star Spirits have turned Jr. Troopa so evil that he plans to destroy the world."

"But…what can we do?"

"I don't know," said Kaiper, "Good bye Luigi, it looks like no one can save us now."

Kaiper then fainted. Luigi looked at her stunned. He slowly got up and limped over to Mario. He noticed the Star and put it in his pocket.

"I still have a bit of strength left. Urgh…Mario, I don't know how but you somehow got super powerful. You have to do it again and save us. Only you can save us."

But Mario had fainted as well. No one had any strength left. Jr. Troopa was too strong. Luigi looked up and saw that the blast could destroy Glitzville.

"MARIO! You need to get up and get super again! You have to save everyone like you always do…because…"

Luigi paused and looked at the blast.

"Wait a second, why does Mario always get the glory? Why does Mario always get to win? Is it because…he has courage? He is never scared to fight and never backs down. I need to be more like that. Hey, why should Mario always win? It's my turn to shine. And, I won't let Jr. Troopa win. It's wrong to destroy the world. The world should be ruled by light. Light can always destroy darkness, and it will. Light…"

Luigi closed his eyes and was about to fall when…the Star glowed!

Suddenly the Star came out and spun all around Luigi. The Star slowly turned into little particles and went inside Luigi with all its power. Luigi instantly felt all light going through him. He screamed as loud as he could. He became stronger then ever, and had the Star's full power. He had a Yellow Cap, Yellow Overalls, a White shirt, and a white cape. He was…Light Luigi and he was…the Hero of Light!

Jr. Troopa had just finished.

"Ha ha! Now nothing can stop this blast! Now it may even destroy the whole Mushroom Kingdom! Now, go!"

Jr. Troopa fired the giant blast. It shot at Glitzville. Just as it was about to hit, a giant light blast shot around the whole city. A figure then shot up and hit the blast at full power. The blast shot back at Jr. Troopa. He quickly teleported away, dodging his blast as it went to the skies. He looked down to see Light Luigi flying at him at super fast speed he had never seen before. Luigi then teleported away.

"What? Where'd he go?"

Luigi appeared behind Jr. Troopa and kicked him as hard as he could at the ground. He then disappeared, and appeared all around Jr. Troopa kicking and punching him everywhere. Jr. Troopa then teleported away, and Luigi did the same. The 2 flew through the whole city and sky punching and shooting and everything while moving at lightning fast speed. Light Luigi was just as powerful as Dark Jr. Troopa. As the 2 fought, Luigi disappeared. Jr. Troopa looked around. Suddenly, 500 little blasts came from below at him. Jr. Troopa quickly jumped around and teleported everywhere. Just as the blasts finished Luigi teleported above him and slammed him towards the ground.

Luigi teleported on the ground and began preparing a blast. Jr. Troopa then shot a blast at Luigi as he flew towards him. Luigi shot his and his was stronger. But Jr. Troopa kept charging at full speed and gave his shot more power. The 2 blasts eventually exploded, and Jr. Troopa flew at Luigi and hit him through the ground. As Luigi flew, Jr. Troopa teleported below Glitzville. He kicked Luigi towards Glitzville again and he went through. Jr. Troopa then teleported above Glitzville and began powering up a massive blast to fire at Luigi. But Luigi never came. A giant blast then shot at Jr. Troopa from behind. It hit him and he flew through the air. Luigi then teleported in front of him, powered up, and swung his cape super fast and spun himself to hit Jr. Troopa a thousand times. Then he powered up, and went through Jr. Troopa as he went to the ground. Jr. Troopa hit the ground, defeated. Luigi then held up the 3 Shadow Star Spirit Pieces he just stole from him (like Red did to Mario) to power him down and smiled. Luigi then walked over to his fainted brother and put the pieces in his pocket. Light Luigi then turned back to normal, and fainted.

Luigi woke up to find himself in the arena. In fact the arena was full. It had turned into a hospital and everyone was there. Doctors came from Toad Town to help rebuild the city, but the strange thing was…no one knew what happened. A few people remembered a giant black Koopa killing everyone, but no one knew where they went.

Meanwhile, Toadia ran in and noticed Luigi was okay. He called to the others and they followed.

"Luigi, you're okay!" said Green Guy.

Mario gave Luigi a big hug.

"What happened?"

"Well that's the thing, no one knows. We can remember Jr. Troopa about to kill us all, but now we all wake up and he's gone, and everyone was fainted. It was weird," said Toadia.

"Yah, and the Star's gone!" said Kaiper.

"What are you talking about?" asked Luigi.

"Oh…nothing really…sigh."

"But another thing good happened," said Toadia, "Mario got all 3 Shadow Star Spirit Pieces."

"Really bro? How'd you do it?"

"?"

"Oh…strange that you got them. Oh yah guys, what happened to the Koopa Bros, and the Whomps and the Shy Guys?"

"They did not want to be taken care of and they left," said Kaiper.

"Yah it's funny because they totally forgot about the Shadow Star Spirit Pieces," said Toadia.

"Oh well, let's go and get that last piece!" said Luigi.

Luigi got up but then his whole body seemed to hurt and he quickly fell onto the bed.

"Ow!"

"Luigi!" screamed Mario.

"Looks like you got real hurt Luigi," said Kaiper, "We'll leave tonight so you can rest."

"Why'd I get hurt more then you guys?"

"We don't know."

Late that night, our heroes were at the blimp talking with Toadia's family. They gave Toadia's family enough money for them to buy a house. Throughout the day, they had talked with the koopa host and arranged a job for Toadia's brother at the tournament so they could get money and not be poor anymore.

"Are you sure about this Toadia?" said her brother.

"Uh huh, Mario will need more help on his quest if the battles ahead are just like this one. Besides, you guys will be fine."

"Good bye Toadia," said her mom as the 2 gave 1 last hug.

"I'll miss you mom," said Toadia.

Then they looked at Toadia's baby sister.

"She's going to miss you too."

"Well, I'll come back as soon as Mario's adventure is over. Don't worry. Bye!" said Toadia as she hopped on the blimp.

The Blimp started to go, they waved good-bye, and Glitzville slowly became a small speck.

**You got all 3 Shadow Star Spirit Pieces!**

**END OF CHAPTER!**

**And so, Mario, Luigi, Kaiper, Green Guy, and now Toadia were able to find the secret of Glitzville and with some luck, were able to get all 3 Shadow Star Spirit Pieces. Now, only 1 remains, and is at Bowser's Castle. But, how will Mario and co. get to Bowser's Castle?**

---------------------------------------------Bowser-----------------------------------------------------

Bowser looked pretty mad at the moment and as Kammy Koopa approached, he knew he was in for some bad news.

"Um…your wretchedness, I have some news for you."

"Is it good or bad?"

"Um…it's good, well, it's probably good, actually, from a certain point of view it's good, but I suppose, you could say it's both, but then again, it could be bad from another perspective, however…it doesn't have to be bad…um…yah…it's bad."

"Urgh! What then!?"

"Well, the Koopa bros and General Guy came close, but Mario prevailed and so now he has 3 pieces while we only have 1."

"DANG THAT MARIO!" screamed Bowser.

Suddenly a little chip on the wall started beeping and it shot out an image of General Guy's face on a screen!

"!" said Bowser and Kammy Koopa.

"Greetings my lord, we failed, but will not fail next time I assure you."

"Wha…What is this!?" exclaimed Kammy Koopa.

"Ah! You like it. I placed it on your wall the last time I was there. This is an advanced communication mechanism that my men were able to create."

"And why wasn't I told about this?" asked Bowser.

"Well, this is a prototype, so the final version isn't ready yet. Besides, we are too busy working on a more current problem."

"Such as?"

"Ah-hem," said General Guy.

The screen then shut off and with a flash General Guy appeared with some Shy Guys and a huge machine that looked like the one used in the first Paper Mario, but was colored different.

"How…How did you do that?" asked Bowser.

"More technology stuff, you wouldn't care, anyways, this is a stronger version of my old machine and I know that we'll need it now more then ever."

"And why is that?"

"You do know that Mario only needs 1 more piece to have them all. He is most likely coming to your castle for the last piece."

"Well, I knew it would happen eventually."

"Well, this machine will help us defeat Mario, but in the mean time you should start getting your forces ready because the Mario juggernaut is on its way."

"Yes yes, now go, pick a room in my castle and set up your stuff there."

"Yes sir!" said General Guy as he and some Shy Guys pulled his machine and walked off.

"Heh, soon all 4 Shadow Star Spirit Pieces will be in this castle and soon, the Shadow Star Spirit will be reborn!" said General Guy.

--------------------------------------------------Jr. Troopa---------------------------------------------

Jr. Troopa woke up in a bed at Toad Town. He must've fallen off of Glitzville.

"Oh, you're awake," said a Toad.

"W-Where am I?"

"You were hurt real badly. Luckily I found you and healed your wounds. You should be all better now."

"Oh…well thanks," said Jr. Troopa as he walked out and into Toad Town.

"Oh man, I can't remember anything. I can barely remember I think myself getting in a big fight, but I can't remember the outcome and who I was fighting. Oh well…so…what should I do now?"

"Hey did you hear about Mario?" came a voice.

"!" said Jr. Troopa as he saw some Toads nearby talking.

"You mean that Mario went on another adventure?" said one Toad.

"Yah, man I wonder how he's going to get to Bowser's Castle."

"You mean you don't know how?"

"Not really."

"I heard that the only way to get to Bowser's Castle without flying is to go to Flower Fields and then climb up to Cloudy Climb. Then you have to travel on the clouds and eventually, fall onto Bowser's Castle."

"But, how do you get to Flower Fields, I mean, couldn't we do it?"

"Well, you go to that door over there," said the Toad as he pointed to the door in the middle of the flower garden, "And you're there. But the problem is that Bowser's minions are there so Mario will have a hard time getting through."

"I see, hey did you hear about the new Doughnuts store?"

"You mean the one on Troopa Avenue?"

"Yah, yah, come on, I'm starving."

"Ok," said the Toad as the 2 ran, "Hey, last one there's a stupid baby Koopa in an egg shell! Ha ha ha!"

They ran away and Jr. Troopa looked mad.

"Fine then, I'll just have to go to Flower Fields to find and beat Mario."

---------------------------------------------------------Mario-------------------------------------------

The blimp arrived and the 5 got out.

"Ok, now what?" said Luigi.

""

"WHAT!? You want to go to Bowser's Castle!?"

"Yah, I'm game," said Toadia, "I mean, we're strong enough, we can do it…but how do we get there? We can't fly."

"That's simple," said Kaiper, "You see there's a door that leads to Flower Fields and in Flower Fields is Cloudy Climb and if we go to Cloudy Climb, we can get to Bowser's Castle from there."

"Okay then, let's go!" said Luigi.

Mario, Luigi, Toadia, and Green Guy went in, but Kaiper said she would catch up. Kaiper ran up to Star Haven to talk to Eldstar.

"Eldstar, did you hear about the incident?"

"Yes, Twink told me. I find it very strange that Jr. Troopa gets ultimate dark power, and then everyone faints, then they wake up and he is gone."

"Well I know the reason."

"You do?"

"Yes, because when I woke up, the Star you gave me was gone."

"So you're saying…"

"Yes! The hero of light must have come, and absorbed the star, then the hero beat Jr. Troopa and saved us all."

"So who's the hero of light?"

"Everyone was knocked out when it happened."

"WHAT!? sigh," said Eldstar, "Oh well, I don't know if I can make you guys another one."

"That's okay, I just thought I'd tell you that. See ya later Eldstar," said Kaiper as she ran off to Toad Town.

Kaiper followed the others into Flower Fields.

_To Be Continued…_

Comments

Man, this chapter was long! Longest chapter ever! It was real good too! Hey, where are the comments!? Is anyone reading these!?!?!?


	6. Chapter 5: Path in the Sky

uh...hi everybody, how's it going? Yah...sorry about the whole no updates thing. I got real distracted with SSBB and the secret characters and the subspace emissary and the music (downloaded the whole soundtrack) that I stopped with the whole story. But I'm going to give it another shot and finish this story. I also deleted Clash of the Star Rods and found it a mistake for me to post. But, here's chapter 5 (don't expect mush despite the long wait). Oh yeah, and scroll down to the end of this chapter to see my responses to the reviews.

I do not own any of the Mario characters and they are owned by Nintendo and Intelligent Systems

(When Mario says that means he's saying something like in the Paper Mario games, you just don't know what he's saying.)

**Paper Mario: The Shadow Star Spirit**

Mario, Luigi, Kaiper, Green Guy, and Toadia all went through the door to Flower Fields.

**Chapter 5**

**Path in the Sky**

They came out to be at the base of Wise Wisterwood. The whole place looked like Forever Forest normally did, except there were less bub-ulbs and they weren't running around happy, they were walking and were sad. Not only that but the place as a whole looked darker and the flowers weren't that bright. Even Wise Wisterwood's leaves were a darkish blue.

"Oh! Hello Mario, what are you doing here?" asked Wise Wisterwood.

""

"Oh yes, if you go to Cloudy Climb you can get to Bowser's Castle, but…there's a problem."

"Problem? As if we didn't have enough," sighed Luigi.

"Yes well, apparently the sun won't come up. And without the sun, you can't get to Cloudy Climb."

"What does the sun have to do with us getting to Cloudy Climb?"

A Bub-ulb walked over.

"Well, we have water, soil, and a seed for the plant you used before Mario, because the old one withered away, but you see the sun won't come up. So, we need help because it's getting darker."

"Don't worry, we'll do it for you guys," said Toadia.

"We will!?" exclaimed Luigi.

"Of course we will you dope," said Kaiper as she patted him on the back a little too hard.

Mario remembered the way from last time. They went to the north western path. But they saw a flower blocking the way with a gate.

"I'll let you guys pass if you can bring me a blue berry," said the flower in a dumb voice that echoed in Mario's mind.

Mario sighed and they were forced to go another way to find a blue berry. They went back to Wise Wisterwood who told them there was a blue berry down a path directly east. So, they went that way. They came to find a tree with blue berries at the end of the long path. They were walking toward them when suddenly a chunk out of the ground shot up shooting Green Guy in the air. He fell and the ground went back to normal. Suddenly a whole bunch of monty moles popped out all around them and went back underground.

"WHAT!?"

"They're Monty Moles, they must've pushed the ground up from underneath," said Kaiper, "It shouldn't be much of a problem, thou"-

A block suddenly shot Kaiper into the air too. Mario and Luigi quickly ran ahead to get to the tree, but the ground shot up in front of them and they both ran into it and fell down. Then the ground below them shot up and they flew into the air. The 4 all landed behind Toadia. She quickly ran real fast. Blocks shot up in front of her but she just dodged them and kept running. A block from under her then shot up and she flew into the air. However, she was prepared and simply let her cape spread out and she slowly floated down to the tree. She picked up a blue berry and waved to the others. They all cheered.

Suddenly, the ground under Toadia and the tree shot up into the air and she screamed. The 4 instantly charged. Kaiper and Mario had an idea. Kaiper got in her shell and Mario whacked her as hard as he could. As she shot at Toadia, the monty moles shot the ground under Kaiper up, but to their surprise, this helped them. Kaiper flew off of the shot up piece of land and into the sky. She banged into the tree. The shock knocked Toadia and the berry off of the ground way in the air. The berry was going to hit the ground and the monty mole popped out to catch it. Thinking quickly, Luigi banged Green Guy as hard as he could at the mole. Green Guy screamed as he flew into the monty mole and knocked it out. Then he quickly caught the berry…and Toadia landed right on him. And just when all seemed good, the monty moles shot the piece of land the 2 were on straight into the air. They went flying into the air. Toadia quickly grabbed Green Guy and she used her cape to float back to the bros. Meanwhile, Kaiper got in her shell and shot right below them.

The 3 all got toward the bros when the moles shot up the ground underneath Kaiper. Kaiper shot in the air and flew over the bros and got away. As Toadia and Green Guy approached the ground, the moles underground were about to push a block in front of the 2 into the air when…they noticed Mario and Luigi. Mario and Luigi had used their hammers to dig underground and they had dug a path right to the moles while the others were retrieving the berry. The bros beat up the moles underground and Toadia and Green Guy ran to Kaiper. The bros came out of the hole they had dug and rejoined the three and headed back to the plant. They gave him the blue berry and he opened the gate for them.

They walked passed the gate, but they came to a ton of spikes and Mario didn't have Lakilester to help him. They wondered what to do. Toadia then used her speed to run across the wall. Then they had an idea. Kaiper got in her shell and Green Guy jumped on her and held on tight to her. Mario and Luigi then whacked Kaiper as hard as they could. Kaiper went flying and only hit the spikes twice. When they were done Kaiper was hurt pretty badly.

"Ouch! Those look like hard scratches. Are you ok?" asked Toadia.

"Ugh!" cried Kaiper.

"She'll live, come on and let's go," said Green Guy, "We've got to hurry."

"Heh, you sure are rude Green Guy."

"You're one to talk."

"Hmph!"

"Ha! I don't know why you try Kaiper. You'll never get to see what's behind my mask you dumb koopa! Now those scratches will slow you down even more! Ha ha ha!"

"That's it!"

Kaiper started chasing Green Guy and Toadia followed. As they ran:

"Ah, I see," said Toadia,

"All you have to do is motivate them and they'll go," said Green Guy as he ran for his life.

They eventually got to the rocky staircase and they ran as fast as they could up it. The sun was supposed to be at the top, but when they got there…it was gone!

"What!? It's supposed to be here!" exclaimed Green Guy.

They looked around, but couldn't find anything.

"Say, doesn't that cloud look a little…how should I say it…unique?" said Toadia.

They looked at a cloud that had a smiley face on it.

"Now, why didn't we notice that in the first place?" remarked Kaiper.

The face disappeared.

"!"

"This is strange," said Toadia.

Suddenly the sun barely came out of the smiley-faced cloud.

"Help me!" screamed the sun.

"!"

Suddenly a hand pulled it into the cloud. Just then, the cloud started to turn black. Then the face appeared and it was mad. Then a lightning blot shot down and sent the 3 running. Then a Lakitu came out of the Giant Black Cloud.

"Ha! This Sun sure is hard to contain, but you guys will be easy to defeat."

"Who are you?" demanded Kaiper.

"Ha! I am Lightning Lakitu, leader of the Lakitus (if you're wondering who he is, he's the World 7 Boss on New Super Mario Bros. That's not his name, but that's what I decided to call him). I took away this sun to prevent you from going to Bowser's territory.

"We can still defeat you!"

**BATTLE!**

The Lightning Lakitu sent a lightning bolt at the 3. Green Guy turned into his Indian Shy Guy form. Using the disk, he caught the lightning and sent it back at the Lakitu. He was electrocuted, and was hurt bad. The Lakitu then started shooting lightning bolts everywhere and there were too many for Green Guy to catch. He caught a couple, but the Lakitu was moving too fast and he couldn't hit him back. Meanwhile, Toadia and Kaiper (who got in her shell) were running for their lives. Toaida then ran as fast as she could, jumped off of Green Guy, and jumped as high as she could. She shot into the air so fast Lightning Lakitu had no chance. She punched him as she flew up, then slammed right onto him as she came back down. He fell and hit the ground. Green Guy then shocked him with a lightning bolt he absorbed. Lightning Lakitu and his cloud disappeared and the sun came out.

"Phew, thanks a lot. You know, you shocked me a little bit, but I'm okay."

"Oh, sorry."

"It's okay."

"We're just glad you're safe," said Toadia.

The Sun rose up into the sky and day had returned to Flower Fields.

"Hooray! We did it!" said Kaiper.

"All right, now let's go back."

They walked back to the spikes. Toadia ran along the edge, but Kaiper didn't want to get into her shell because she was afraid she'd get hurt real bad again. Luckily, a familiar face showed up. It was Lakilester!

"Yo, Mario, what's shakin me homie gee?"

"Huh?" said Luigi.

""

"Saving the world again huh? You are the best at doing that you know," said Lakilester.

""

"Oh sure, I'll bring your friends over."

Lakilester brought Kaiper and Green Guy to the other side.

"But anyways, we need to talk," said Lakilester, "You see, Bowser knew you were coming this way. Mr. Huff n Puff is guarding the way along with the Lakitus. Your buddies were able to take out Lightning Lakitu though, so it shouldn't be much of a problem. But, just watch out. There are only a few lakitus besides me on your side."

"Ok, thanks for your help," said Luigi.

"Anything for my crib."

"Huh?" said Luigi again.

"Well, got to go, I have to work on something, so see ya later," said Lakilester as he left.

"I wonder what he's working on."

"Oh well, let's go."

The 5 went back to Wise Wisterwood. A Bub-ulb gave them the soil, water, and seed again. Mario planted them and the plant slowly rose into the clouds.

"I didn't know plants could grow so quickly," said Toadia.

"Actually they only do in Flower Fields," said Kaiper, "You see, in the great nutritious soil of flower fields there rests an element. (Kaiper looked into the sky and closed her eyes as she talked). Discovered by Koopa von Hedies, little is known about it except that it can cause plants to grow at a fast rate. Named after the founder, the "Hedies" element also causes the plants to grow so fast that they gain eyes and can talk. You see"-

Kaiper looked up to see everyone riding the leaves up the giant plant to the clouds.

"Hey! Wasn't anybody listening!?"

No one heard her except Luigi who looked down.

"What'd you say?"

Kaiper looked mad and then followed them up the plant. At the top, they were standing on the clouds and they were as far as the eye could see.

"Okay, which way to Bowser's Castle?"

Everyone looked at Kaiper.

"Sigh, I know everything right? East…that way," said Kaiper as she pointed.

"Okay then."

They walked a little bit until they came to some holes in the clouds.

"Why are there holes in the clouds?" asked Green Guy.

"Look!" exclaimed Toadia.

They all looked far ahead to see about 5 Lakitus all poking holes in the clouds with their spikes.

"We better hurry before there are no more clouds."

The 5 ran ahead dodging every hole. They finally came a few feet away from them.

"Well well well, if it isn't Mario and his crew. Too bad their lives end here. Come on boys," said the Lakitu.

All 5 Lakitus instantly started throwing a ton of spikes at them all. Luckily, they dodged them all, but were farther away. Apparently the spikes poked a huge hole in the cloud and now they couldn't get to the Lakitus.

"Ah great!" said Kaiper.

"Ha! Now you shall never get to Bowser's Castle," said one of the Lakitus.

"Well, we still have 3 Shadow Star Spirit pieces which is way more then Bowser's 1, so we're okay," said Luigi in a loud voice.

"Yes, but you will never get Bowser's piece."

"And he won't get ours, because Bowser sent weaklings like you to take it."

"Hmph, he told us to stop you and that's all."

"Well we're still standing and we will find a way across. Besides, how could a couple of shrimps like you stop **the** Mario?"

"The fact that Bowser even thought he could stop us is funny," said Toadia.

All 5 started laughing.

"Grrr! That's it! Everybody! Get Them!"

**BATTLE!**

The 5 Lakitus all charged at the 5. Mario and Luigi jumped and slammed on 2 of the Lakitus and they were knocked out. Toaida disappeared confusing a Lakitu, then came down and slammed on it. Green Guy ran from his Lakitu and he chased him until he lost him. The Lakitu looked around. Green Guy then pushed him hard into the clouds and jumped on him. Kaiper simply got in her shell and spun real fast. The Lakitu threw a Spiny at her and it bounced off and hit him knocking him out.

"Hey, they really were weak," said Toadia.

"Well, now what do we do? They stopped us," said Luigi.

Suddenly clouds popped up filling in the gap.

"!"

"Now who did that?" said Kaiper.

Suddenly Lakilester flew up into the clouds.

"You like it? We countered Huff n Puff's old cloud machine that Mario destroyed to make a machine that will make clouds, but not dark ones that block out the sun."

"GENIUS! Why didn't I think of that myself!?" exclaimed Kaiper.

"Because you're sooooooooooo stupid!" shouted Luigi.

Kaiper hit Luigi as hard as she could and he went so far that he fell off the clouds and fell into a tree which shook it. He looked around.

"Ugh!...hm?"

Suddenly he noticed a bee's nest right next to him and it was shaking like the tree. Luigi's face turned pale. Suddenly hundreds of bees came out stinging Luigi and he quickly jumped out and ran for his life to Wise Wisterwood.

"O………kay," said Green Guy, "Well, I guess we'll wait for Luigi. So…lakilester, where do we get off at Bowser's Castle? We're going to get the last Shadow Star Spirit Piece!"

"Ah yes, it's about a mile away, not that far. Just head straight east and you'll be there. But I should warn you. There's trouble and…then there's the huge slide."

"Excuse me, did you say a Huge Slide?" asked Toadia.

"Oh, it's nothing, but good luck anyways. Oh, there's Luigi now."

Luigi walked up to them with bee stings all over him He looked at Kaiper. She quickly ran away and the gang followed with Luigi going the fastest. After some whacks on the head and some healing and arguing they arrived at the end, but there was someone waiting for them. Mario walked up, looked ahead and saw Mr. Huff n Puff.

"Mario! Heh heh, long time no see, gee how long has it been? "

""

"Well, you haven't changed. As you may have noticed, I was able to assemble enough Puffs to reform myself, but now there are no Puffs left but me. So, time for my revenge!"

"Get ready," said Kaiper.

**BATTLE!**

Mario and Luigi both slammed on Huff n Puff and some Puffs came out of him and he got smaller. The puffs all started to spin around and slamming into them. Kaiper got in her shell and was slamming into them all. Green Guy started helping Mario, and Luigi hit Huff n Puff. As the puffs came out, they charged at the 3, but Toadia and Kaiper slammed on them. Soon Huff n Puff electrocuted himself. Mario and Luigi slammed on him, but Green Guy knew better and fell to the clouds. The bros were shocked and fell onto the clouds. Huff n Puff started to shake. He shot a bolt of lightning out and it hit the clouds and the bolts started traveling right at them. Green Guy quickly changed into his jungle form and absorbed one streak of lightning. Toadia and Kaiper managed to dodge them. The same could not be said for the Mario Bros. The shock left them both on the verge of defeat, but they were barely okay. Kaiper and Toadia then slammed on him and Green Guy shot a lightning bolt at him which caused a ton of Puffs to come out of him. Huff n Puff grinned then shot into the sky with the Puffs flying around him. They all looked up but couldn't see them. He was coming down. While he was very small, all the Puffs around him started to make him go faster and do more damage. They looked down. They were aiming for Mario and Luigi! Soon Huff n Puff electrocuted. He shot a blast as he came down. Green Guy and Toadia charged. Green Guy jumped into the air and absorbed the blast. Toadia ran by grabbing Mario and Luigi. Green Guy and Toadia looked at each other and nodded. Then they noticed that Toadia missed Luigi and he was still there. Green Guy started to spin. Huff n Puff slammed on Luigi and they went through the clouds. As they fell to the ground, Green Guy shocked Huff n Puff and his Puffs with a bolt of lightning, destroying the now small Huff n Puff. Luigi meanwhile fell to the ground. Mario walked over and looked at Luigi from the clouds. Luigi was yelling something bad and Mario was glad he couldn't hear him. Toadia pulled out a Super Mushroom and gave it to Mario. Down Below Luigi headed back to Wise Wisterwood, again, where a Bub-ulb gave him a Super Mushroom.

"Phew, we did it," said Green Guy.

"Poor Luigi, I can't believe I missed him," said Toadia.

"Well, we beat him, so let's go to Bowser's Castle," said Kaiper.

"HELP! LAKITU MANIA!" came a voice.

"!"

Luigi came running, and behind him were a ton of Lakitus, all with red eyes.

"Oh no."

"Don't tell me."

Jr. Troopa came from behind them.

"I'm back Mario!"

"Everyone RUN!" screamed Kaiper.

The 5 all ran as fast as they could as the Lakitu army pursued. They eventually came to a huge 5 lane slide. There was a sign that said, "To Bowser's Castle."

"You have got to be kidding me," said Green Guy.

"Oh boy, this looks like fun," chuckled Toadia.

The 4 then saw Luigi running up. He ran and fell down a lane.

The 4 all chose a lane and jumped onto it as they slid down. Jr. Troopa knew that if he changed into his flying form he'd lose his lakitus so he simply went down the slide behind them. Luigi looked down and saw that soon, if they fell, they'd fall into lava that was surrounding Bowser's castle. He then looked in front of him to see a Lakitu looking at him in the eye. Luigi screamed and jumped into the air and fell off the slide landing on the edge of Flower Fields. He looked like he was about to cry as he ran back to Wise Wisterwood. The 4 sighed as they jumped from lane to lane dodging the Lakitu spikes. Of course all the jumping slowed them down and Jr. Troopa was soon behind them. They saw the slides split into 2 different courses. 2 went 1 way and 2 went another. Mario and Kaiper went left, while Toadia and Green Guy went right. Jr. Troopa and some lakitus followed Mario and Kaiper. The rest of the lakitus followed Green Guy and Toadia.

On Mario's side, the Lakitus were throwing spikes at them. Mario hammered the spikes back at them one by one. Kaiper got in her shell and spun real fast, which deflected some spikes, but then it made her go faster and she sped along the slide way ahead of all of them, leaving Mario alone. Jr. Troopa approached Mario and soon they were jumping around the slides while the lakitus threw spikes at them.

Meanwhile, the lakitus were throwing a ton of spikes at Green Guy and Toadia. They were jumping around but with only 2 slides it was very difficult. The Lakitus then stopped and flew ahead. They threw a whole bunch of spikes at the 2 lanes leaving a huge gap. "Oh no!" said Green Guy. "Quick, hold close to me! I can jump that far," replied Toadia. Green Guy held close to Toadia. They jumped the huge gap together and barely landed on the other side. "Phew, that was close," said Toadia. She turned to Green Guy and he turned to her to notice their faces were very close to each other. They both quickly let go and jumped to separate lanes and blushed. They turned around to see the Lakitus coming. The two jumped from Lakitu to Lakitu slamming on each one. Soon they were all gone.

Meanwhile, Mario and Jr. Troopa were battling it out while the Lakitus attacked. Jr. Troopa jumped into the air. As Mario looked up the Lakitus came in and knocked Mario down. Jr. Troopa slammed onto Mario and jumped off while they slid down. Then a Lakitu came up and threw a spike at him. Mario quickly turned around, grabbed his hammer and whacked the spike at Jr. Troopa. It hit him on the head and he fell down. Mario then hit more spikes at Jr. Troopa which eventually hit the whistle and it fell off the slide. "Oh no!" he screamed as all the Lakitus turned back to normal. They looked around, and flew away. "No! My Slaves!" screamed Jr. Troopa. As he started banging his hand on the slide, he suddenly remembered Mario, turned around, and got banged on the head by his hammer.

As the 2 lanes of 2 slides met, Mario found Green Guy and Toadia. As they came to the end they saw it go flying into a window in the castle. The 3 quickly slowed down and dropped off of the slide onto the nearby ledge. Jr. Troopa (in a dizzy state) went flying into the castle. They met Kaiper.

"What took ya?"

""

"Yah, the entrance is right over there," said Kaiper as she pointed to a door. "This should take us to Bowser and the final Shadow Star Spirit piece. Let's Go!"

"What about Luigi?" said Toadia.

"Who?" said Kaiper.

Mario sighed as Luigi slowly came in and dropped down to them.

"Sigh, hello again. What did I miss?"

"Oh, not much. We beat Jr. Troopa, but, he's in Bowser's Castle now, so we might run into him again. We're going to go in a different entrance so we hopefully won't meet up with him."

"Oh…ok, then let's a go!" said Luigi.

_Now Mario must once again go through Bowser's Castle for the final Shadow Star Spirit Piece and for Princess Peach (you probably forgot about her). What dangers await them in the castle? General Guy? Jr. Troopa?_

_To Be Continued… _

* * *

Review Responses: 

ShadowMario68: Thanks for the praise, and thanks for reminding me about this story.

Aeolian Mode: Thanks for the long review, I like seeing people spend time in a review. It's funny, when I was writing this story originally I showed my brother and he said basically what you said about descriptions and it being too much like the game. Guess I need to work on that, and I will! And thanks for what you said about Mario's dialogue and the old Paper Mario characters. Those were 2 things about the story I wanted to keep and they stay in my sequel too.


	7. Chapter 6: The Battle Castle

I do not own any of the Mario characters and they are owned by Nintendo and Intelligent Systems

(When Mario says that means he's saying something like in the Paper Mario games, you just don't know what he's saying.)

**Paper Mario: The Shadow Star Spirit**

Mario, Luigi, Kaiper, Green Guy, and Toadia all went into Bowser's Castle.

**Chapter 6**

**The Battle Castle**

When they entered, they came to a giant Bowser head statue on the wall across the hall (if you've been to Bowser's Castle in the original Paper Mario, you know what I mean).

"Bwa ha ha ha ha ha, if it isn't Mario. I suppose you've come to get through to Bowser. Well, just come in front of me and I'll let you through."

"Sounds easy," said Luigi.

"Hmm….," said Mario as he had feeling he'd remembered this.

The 5 all walked up to it and stood in front of it.

"So, you are all exactly in front of me?"

"Yes," replied Kaiper.

"Heh heh heh."

Mario suddenly remembered what he was going to do. He quickly grabbed Luigi and jumped clear away from the front of the statue.

""

Toadia quickly dashed off of the square they were all on. Green Guy and Kaiper started to run, but it was too late. The floor below them opened and they fell into the cave below.

"Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha! Now those fools will never come back."

"Eh-hem," said Kaiper.

"WHAT!? You're still here! Uh oh…"

""

"Urgh! No, I'll never let you through. GUARDS!"

Suddenly a bunch of Koopatrols, Hammer bros, and Magikoopas came out of a hole in the ceiling..

"Get Them!" screamed the Bowser head as the troops charged.

As the fierce battle went on, Green Guy had hit bottom and was in a small dark room. He opened his eyes lying on the ground. He didn't know where he was, but he knew that he was stuck. He got up and looked around. It was dark except, for the small light above him. Suddenly, a shadowy figure zoomed by him. He turned around. The figure zoomed by the back of him. He turned.

"H-H-He-Hello…"

"Heh heh heh heh heh heh heh, poor Green Guy. He's all alone now. No Mario, Luigi, or Toadia is here to protect him and his MASK!" came a voice.

"Oh no! It can't be."

The figure emerged behind him and was about to pull of his mask when he quickly jumped forward and turned around.

"KAIPER! You've gone too far!"

"Heh, I simply want to fulfill my wish. And now no one can help you, heh heh heh," said Kaiper as she went back into the darkness.

Green Guy was extremely terrified and looked around hoping this would have a good ending…to him. Suddenly, Kaiper shot out of nowhere at him while in her shell. Green Guy jumped away and fell onto the ground. Kaiper then bounced off the wall back at him. Green Guy quickly scrambled to get up, but was too late. Kaiper rammed into him, and his mask flew off and into the air. Kaiper instantly got out of her shell and leaped into the air to grab it. But then, Green Guy grabbed Kaiper's shoe sending her falling to the ground. As she turned, Green Guy caught the mask and put it back on.

But Kaiper just got up and went back into the darkness. Green Guy then changed into his jungle form, unknown to Kaiper. As he heard Kaiper charging he quickly zapped a bolt of lightning to his disc. When Kaiper charged, he jumped and zapped her as she passed by, knocking her out.

"You were close, but you won't see what's behind my mask."

Kaiper got up and punched Green Guy back into the wall in the dark.

"Oh no! I can't see!" screamed Green Guy.

"Exactly," snickered Kaiper.

Green Guy quickly held up his disc. Of course, not being above the hole, the lightning went through the ceiling, knocking it down. Blocks with huge sizes fell on Green Guy. Kaiper rammed into the blocks and quickly got out of her shell.

"Uh oh…"

Suddenly a bolt of lightning shot out of the rocks and at the opposite wall. It hit some giant ball which turned yellow, lighting the whole room. Green Guy emerged from the rocks, walked out a little, and collapsed of exhaustion. Kaiper ran up to him, and was about to take his mask off (but she was questioning if she should do something so evil), when she heard-

"WOOF WOOF!"

Kaiper turned to see that Green Guy's bolt had hit a giant chain chomp that was sleeping but had just woken up. It had been there the whole time!

"Oh crap!"

The Chain Chomp shot at them. Kaiper grabbed Green Guy and ran to a corner dodging the chomp. Kaiper frantically took out the books in her pockets and looked through them. The Chain chomp backed up, spotted them, and prepared for a second attack. Kaiper quickly stopped flipping pages and read a page. She then turned around, breathed in, and blew the loudest whistle ever and said "Woof!" and pointed at the ground in front of her. The Chain chomp stopped and walked to the center of the room and laid on the ground. Behind it, was a Super Mushroom. Kaiper started to walk toward it, but Green Guy shot up and dashed toward the mushroom, and ate it to regain his strength.

"You aren't going to see what's behind my mask that easily!"

"We'll see. Just remember that today, I saved us by learning of its weakness," Kaiper said as she walked over and sat on the Chain Chomp, "Now come on."

Green Guy walked over and sat on the chomp next to her (wondering whose side Kaiper was on). Kaiper whistled and the chain chomp then jumped into the air as high as it could.

As they shot up, Kaiper slowly moved her hands toward Green Guy from behind without him knowing. But right when she was about to grab it, they came to the top and landed on a bunch of koopatrols and magikoopas. Kaiper noticed Mario, Luigi, Toadia, and some beat up baddies. They all stared at Kaiper who quickly pulled her hands away from Green Guy as they jumped off the chomp. Kaiper whistled again, and it jumped back down.

"Well, you guys didn't miss much. We beat some Bowser baddies and were about to go through the Bowser head…right?" said Luigi in an angry voice.

"R-r-r-right," said the Bowser head as it opened itself to reveal a door.

"So, how were you 2?" said Toadia.

"Oh, we fought a Chain Chomp, and leaped up here," said Kaiper.

"You didn't do anything to Green Guy, did you?" asked Luigi.

"Ha ha! Don't be silly."

"Actually you're wrong," replied Green Guy, "This idiot koopa tried to take off my mask. Ha! But I was too cunning and she"-

Kaiper then smacked Green Guy and he flew and hit the wall, then fell to the ground.

"So, anyways," said Kaiper as she walked off with the bros, "Guess how we tamed that chomp? You see, we"-

"But what about Green Guy?"

"Oh Toadia will take care of him, But anyways"

Toadia ran back to Green Guy.

"Are you okay?" asked Toadia,

"Why me?"

Toadia chuckled, then pulled out some bandages for Green Guy and gave him a mushroom.

"Thanks Toadia."

"Don't worry about it. It's the least I could do for saving me back in Glitzville. Now hold still, there's one on the side of your face."

Toadia moved close to put the band aid on his face without noticing how close their faces were, but Green Guy did.

"Wow, she's so nice," thought Green Guy to himself, "I hope that…some day…she and I can…"

Toadia finished and noticed how close their faces were and jumped back blushing and looked down.

"I'm…sorry," she said,

"No, I don't mind…it was okay. Thanks again…for the bandages."

Toadia looked up at him and they both smiled. She stood up, and put out her hand. Green Guy grabbed it and stood up with her and they both walked off to the 3. When they caught up with them:

"What took you guys so long?" asked Luigi.

"I was just having trouble walking so Toadia helped me, because SOMEONE had hit me into the wall."

"Who, me?" replied Kaiper, "as she looked around."

"Kaiper, try being nice to Green Guy for once, please," remarked Luigi.

""

"Ah yes of course, we've reached a door. Shall we go in?"

The 5 all entered the room to come across…Jr. Troopa, however, he was talking with some Magikoopas.

"So, I'll help you guys overthrow Bowser for magic, deal?" said Jr. Troopa.

The Magikoopas (about 10) looked at each other, nodded, and then held up their wands. Jr. Troopa popped out his wand and held it up in the air. They all put all their magic power into Jr. Troopas wand.

"Heh heh heh. "

Jr. Troopa then held it up into the air and used its power to turn invisible. The Magikoopas all looked around.

"Hey, where do you think you're going?" said one of the Magikoopas.

A Giant Blast bigger then any other blast Jr. Troopa had made before then appeared and hit them all…knocking them out. Jr. Troopa then reappeared.

"Ha ha! With this new power, even Mario won't be able to defeat me!"

"Ah-hem!" said Kaiper.

Jr. Troopa turned and noticed them.

"Why speak of the devil, if it isn't Mario. How kind of you to join. But I'm afraid your time here is up."

"Get Ready!" said Luigi.

**BATTLE!**

Jr. Troopa held up his magic wand and it glowed. He suddenly turned invisible. The 5 looked around wondering where he went. In an instant, Jr. Troopa shot a giant blast at the 5, knocking out Kaiper and Green Guy. Toadia ran away and the bros barely escaped the blast. Mario and Luigi then looked around, but he was still gone. Suddenly, another blast came right at Mario and Luigi. But instead of running, they both pulled out their hammers and hit the blast back at Jr. Troopa. Even though he was invisible, the blast was big enough to hit him. He was hit and fell down visible. Right when Toadia was about to charge, he disappeared again. The 3 looked around. Suddenly, a ton of blasts all shot from right in front of them at them. Toadia jumped around dodging every blast. Mario and Luigi hammered each blast back at Jr. Troopa but they couldn't see him and they were small blasts. A blast then hit Luigi and he fell and was pummeled with blasts. Mario jumped in front of him to stop them, but there were too many. However, Mario was able to spin his hammer and hit every blast coming at him. Mario knocked tons of blasts around the place. One hit Jr. Troopa who was hanging on the ceiling. The blast knocked him down. He fell towards Mario while he was spinning. He powered up, and whacked Jr. Troopa right into the wall. He turned visible and was defeated.

Mario then turned around to the others all badly hurt (except Toadia). But then, a trap door opened below Mario and he fell into darkness.

"Mario! No!" screamed Toadia.

Just then the door opened and in walked…General Guy!

"Heh heh heh! That plan worked perfectly! Now Mario is stuck down there with no help and you weaklings are stuck here with me!"

"N-n-no!" said Toadia.

"Ha ha ha! Take them away!"

Toadia quickly ran to the hole and jumped down.

"Ah…it's okay," said General Guy, "Just take the others away."

A Shy Guy then walked up to him.

"Uh…sir…we found a Troopa in an egg shell, however, from that battle with Mario, he looks strong."

"Hmm…lock him up in the toy box!"

"And for Mario's allies?"

"Keep them locked up here. I have a feeling we will need them later on."

…

Meanwhile, down below, Mario and Toadia had fallen into a hole with no way of reaching the top. They both stood up.

"Ah man, now they're all captured and we have no way of getting out. What do we do?"

"" said Mario as he pointed at a door.

"I suppose that's all we can do for now. So, let's go."

They went through the door and…were surprised to see a whole bunch of Toads there. One walked up to them.

"Oh my! Why, if it isn't Mario! What are you doing here?"

""

"Ah, I see. Well, we are in a current crisis and"-

Suddenly a Toad ran up to them.

"They're too strong! We're starting to lose forces faster then them. We're losing!"

"Um…what is going on?" asked Toadia.

"Well," said the Toad, "We have been down here for a while, however, Bowser has sent forces to destroy us. We have been fighting for a couple hours and the scene looks grim."

"Don't worry! We'll help you guys out!"

"Really! Thank you so much! Please hurry to the front lines!"

Mario and Toadia both ran to the battle. They came to find a lot of Toads battling some Koopas with bullet Bill cannons. The 2 quickly joined the battle. Toadia ran around knocking out each Koopa and Mario did the same. However, the cannons were too hard to destroy. Mario whacked it as hard as he could with his hammer, but it wasn't enough. Luckily they were able to destroy all the koopas except for a few, giving the Toads a huge advantage. They eventually destroyed the cannons too. Meanwhile, Mario and Toadia advanced to the back of the koopa troops. There, they saw a giant Cannon that was being pulled into place and was pointed at Mario. The cannon fired. Mario tried to ran, but the bullet was too fast. Luckily, Toadia swung by to save him at the last second. The bullet went through the wall creating a hole. Mario and Toadia quickly ran through. The cannon slowly moved forward and Mario and Toadia popped their heads out, unseen to the others.

"Great! How do we destroy that cannon?" asked Toadia.

Mario looked back, his eyes widened, and he walked deeper into the hole.

"Hey, where are you going?"

She looked back and noticed that the hole lead into a deep dark tunnel. She crawled behind Mario. Mario went through the hole. It was too dark for him to see.

"Mario, this place is scary. Why are we going this wa"-

She then bumped into Mario.

"Ow! Why did you stop?"

Mario turned around and he was holding something, but they couldn't see it in the dark. They both crawled out into the battlefield. It was…a treasure chest!

"Wow! We sure are lucky!"

Mario quickly opened the chest and looked inside.

"What is it?"

Mario then held up into the air….A brand new HAMMER!

"All right! That looks stronger then your steel hammer! It's too bad there's only one. But let's go!"

The 2 walked backward and came to the giant cannon. The Toads were getting pummeled and there was a dark Koopa on the giant cannon.

"Well, if it isn't Mario," said the Koopa as he noticed them, "When Bowser sent me to take care of these filthy creatures, I had no idea you would be here. But now, prepare to meet your doom!"

The Giant Cannon fired a giant bullet bill at them. Todia ran, but Mario was standing firm! He brought back his new hammer…and hit the bullet as hard as he could. The bullet went flying back at the cannon and hit it, damaging it. Mario then charged and Todia was right behind him. The cannon fired again. Mario once again hit it back at the cannon. Now that they were close, Mario slammed his hammer on the cannon and it blew up. The Dark Koopa flew into the air, hit the ceiling, and fell down, defeated. Mario and Toadia cheered and all the Toads ran out cheering. They had won the battle.

They all ran to the end of the room and up the stairs. When they entered through the door, they came to a strange mechanical room. There were bright steel walls and there was lights all around.

"So, you've come. I suspect it is for your friends," came a voice.

"!"

Suddenly, a hatch opened in the ceiling and down floated a cage with Luigi, Kaiper, and Green Guy in it. They were floating and there were 2 mechanical balls next to the cage that was making it float.

"Bro!"

"Amazing! Those 2 balls must be making that cage float!" said one of the Toads.

"I am glad that you are impressed with our technology," came the voice again.

"!"

Just then, General Guy teleported, and appeared next to the cage.

"With all the discoveries, our Shy Scientists are finding that we can now teleport, float, and do much more. We are way ahead of everyone else and we will soon rule the world. It is only a matter of time now!"

"How…how are you Shy Guys so strong and smart?"

"Heh, that's for me to know, and for you to find out. But first, I'd like to try out a new invention of mine."

Just then a giant machine similar to the one in the first Paper Mario appeared behind General Guy and he jumped in. The machine however had a bigger light bulb and it was black instead of yellow. The color was also red instead of pink. The wheels were also bigger and there was armor all around it. Just then, a whole bunch of Shy Guys ran from the next room to the machine. Toadia then saw the others trapped in the cage. It was near the top of a wall. Then she had an idea.

"Mario, I have a plan," she whispered, "You distract General Guy, and I will need your hammer too."

Mario gave Toadia the hammer and charged at General Guy. The machine then started to glow. Suddenly, it disappeared. Mario stopped and looked around. Just then it appeared behind Mario and shot a dark lightning blast at Mario knocking him down. Meanwhile, Toadia ran along the wall to the others and smashed the 2 balls holding them afloat. The cage fell and broke. Their friends were free. Meanwhile the Toads and Shy Guys were battling it out, but the Shy Guys were winning. The 4 charged into the battle. However, the Shy Guys were too powerful and General Guy kept teleporting away and shocking everyone. Soon only Mario and co were left.

Toadia gave Mario back his hammer. The machine then teleported in front of them and zapped Kaiper. Mario pounded it with his hammer, but the armor was too strong. It then shot a shock at Mario. Green Guy turned into his jungle form and caught it…but it instantly went out and back at General Guy and hit the machine with little damage. He couldn't control the dark lightning. Meanwhile, Luigi and Toadia were stomping on the Shy Guys with little effect. General Guy then powered up and shot a giant lightning blast at Luigi, Toadia, and some of his own Shy Guys, but he didn't care. He then shot a ton of bolts at Mario and Green Guy and the Shy Guys charged. Green Guy caught all the bolts and reflected them while Mario held off the Shy Guys…but it was too much. The Shy Guys overpowered them and they soon were able to take down Green Guy and they threw him into the ceiling and shocked him. Now…only a weakened Mario remained against about 50 Shy Guys and General Guy with his huge tank machine.

Mario looked at his hammer, gripped it and charged with a last plan in mind. As the Shy Guys closed in, Mario started to spin while holding his hammer out. Faster, faster, and faster until he was virtually invincible. His new hammer was pounding all the Shy Guys everywhere. General Guy then shot bolt after bolt at Mario. Mario jumped left and right while spinning dodging every attack, while knocking out each Shy Guy. Mario even jumped above some bolts as they passed and was still able to manage spinning at an incredible speed. Then…when he was a few meters away from General Guy and his machine, he let go! The hammer flew at super fast speed and was spinning with super power. The Ultra Hammer then in an instant…slammed into the center of General Guy's machine. General Guy looked all around his ship as the hammer slowly sank into the insides. The ship then started to glow where the hammer hit. A bright light shined through the ship where Mario had hit it. Then, in an instant…the machine EXPLODED! General Guy flew into the air and went straight through the ceiling.

"IMPOSSIBLE!!!!!!" he screamed.

Mario slowly walked to his hammer, picked it up, held it in the air and smiled. He had single handily defeated General Guy along with a ton of Shy Guys. He was King! (That Battle was fircken awesome! You have no idea how awesome it was to write it!)The others slowly stood up and walked over to Mario.

"You…you're real amazing bro."

A bunch of Toads then came with a lot of mushrooms.

"Ah! Looks like those mushrooms we were saving up came in handy after all."

They all healed. However now they had to find a way out of the castle.

"Well, now what do we do?" asked one of the Toads.

They then noticed one of General Guy's teleport machines. Green Guy walked over and picked it up.

"Does…anyone know how to use this?" asked Green Guy.

"Uh…"

"Oh! I know!" exclaimed a Toad.

The toad then walked over and grabbed it from Green Guy. He pushed a button and instantly teleported away.

"…"

"Well, we will be seeing you all later then," said the Toad leader.

All the toads pushed the button and teleported away.

""

"I'm sure we're almost at the end of the castle. Let's go!" said Luigi.

The group of 5 all walked into the next room. They ran into a bunch of Koopatrols, Hammer Bros, and Magikoopas (about 10 of each to be exact).

"Ah! It's Mario! What do we do? What do we do?" said one of the Koopatrols as it ran around.

"Now now koopas, let's not panic here. We outnumber them 6 to 1. Besides, you remember Bowser's orders," said a Magikoopa.

"I suppose we have no choice," sighed a Hammer Bro.

"But-but-but-"stuttered the Koopatrol.

The 5 charged at the 30.

**BATTLE!**

Mario and Luigi both held out there hammers and swung them in circles while moving to hit them. Kaiper got in her shell and went through them all. Green Guy and Toadia went around jumping on them all (except the Koopatrols of course). However, the Magikoopas powered up all the Hammer Bros and Koopatrols. Soon some of them were invisible. Kaiper and Green Guy and Toadia quickly aimed for the Magikoopas so it wouldn't happen again. However, the invisible Hammer Bros were able to nail Green Guy and Toadia. The invisible Koopatrols then slammed into Kaiper (who's in her shell still) who hit Mario into the wall knocking him out. As Kaiper came to Luigi he jumped over and also hit her real hard increasing her speed. She went so fast that she was able to hit all the Koopatrols and Hammer Bros that were invisible because she went so fast across the room, and every time she came to Luigi he would hit her real hard again. The 30 troops were all soon defeated and luckily had some items on them that the team happily took.

"Phew, that was kind of hard. I feel dizzy," said Luigi.

"You have no idea," said Kaiper as she dizzily walked around and then walked into a wall on accident.

The 5 then all packed up, and headed into the final (well, not exactly final) room. There they found Bowser sitting on his (lovely) chair with Kammy Koopa next to him.

"So, you made it this far. Well, I am impressed Mario. I should've expected this much from you. However, (as he jumps out in front of them) your time ends here. Kammy Koopa and I have grown much stronger and we'll win this time."

**BAAAAATLE!!!**

Bowser charged and breathed fire at all 5 of them. Toadia hopped over it, jumped off of Bowser, and slammed on Kammy Koopa. The other 4 all ran out of the way, however, Kaiper wasn't fast enough. Kammy Koopa then shot a bunch of magic blasts at Toadia as she ran around the place. Green Guy took advantage of this moment to change into his jungle form. He then zapped a lightning bolt onto his disk, and electrified Kammy Koopa. After the shock, (get it, shock XD) Luigi threw his hammer and jumped to Kammy Koopa. The hammer hit her, knocking her off her broom, and flew into the air. Luigi jumped, grabbed it, and came down fast and slammed into Kammy Koopa. All 3 then came in and creamed Kammy Koopa. Meanwhile, Mario was dodging Bowser's flames, and jumping around. He jumped and slammed his hammer onto Bowser. Bowser then leaped into the air and slammed onto the ground. The shockwave froze Mario, and Bowser then charged and rammed Mario into the wall. Mario slowly got up as Bowser charged in his shell. Mario jumped super high and Bowser went under him, bounced off the wall, and bounced back. Mario then charged while powering up his hammer. Bowser bounced back at Mario. Mario and Bowser both collided. After the hammer and shell collision, Mario flew back and hit the wall, and Bowser wasn't hurt. Kaiper soon got up ok. "Ha ha ha! Where are your friends now, huh?" laughed Bowser. "Right here!" Bowser turned to see Luigi, Kaiper, Green Guy, and Toadia all looking at him mad, while Kammy Koopa lay in the back defeated. "Urrr…" murmured Bowser. The 4 all attacked Bowser and punched him to death. Mario got up and they healed him.

"Now that wasn't so hard," said Kaiper.

"Then, let's go get the last Shadow Star Spirit Piece and Princess Peach."

The 5 all headed into the final room to find Peach.

"Oh! Mario, you came to rescue me! I just knew you would, I just knew it! Oh yes, I also found this here."

Peach pulled out a Shadow Star Spirit piece!

"Oh boy! Now we have all the Shadow Star Spirit pieces!" exclaimed Toadia.

As the 5 approached…Peach and the piece suddenly floated into the air. Then they floated towards the window at the back of the room.

"Mario! Help me!"

"!" was all Mario could say.

"That's Impossible! How are they floating!" said Kaiper.

Suddenly, 3 boos appeared holding Peach and 1 appeared holding the piece.

"Heh heh heh, sorry Mario, but we're taking this piece for ourselves."

"What! Why?" said Luigi.

"Because we have to tell you some important stuff, so come to our mansion."

The 3 Boos and Peach floated away.

"Mario!" screamed Peach as the 3 Boos carried her away.

The boo holding the piece then floated over.

"You'd better do as he says Mario. Lady Bow would like to speak to you. You know where our Mansion is. So, we bid you, for the time being, farewell."

The Boo floated away with the piece.

Mario fell to his knees and banged his hand on the ground.

"Sorry bro, looks like there's one more obstacle on our quest," said Luigi.

Mario looked up a little mad but quietly said ""

"Yes, but I don't want to go," said Kaiper, "It is at the end of Forever Forest, but it is kind of (gulp) scary. There are scary things and it's dark. But then again, none have ventured through except for Mario. This can contain some valuable information. All right, let's go!"

"Well, I guess your opinion changed quickly," said Luigi as he slapped himself on his forehead.

"Well, we have no choice but to go to forever forest, but…HOW THE HECK DO WE GET OUT OF HERE!" said Green Guy.

"Oh yah, I forgot about that," said Kaiper.

"!"

Mario decided to go back into the room with Bowser and the others followed. Mario then frantically looked around the room. He then whacked Bowser (who was laying on the floor weak) on the head and was saying something to him.

"Ha! I'll never tell," said Bowser.

Mario then took out his hammer and held it up in the air and started swinging it around so it would go really fast into Bowser's head.

"ACK! Wait wait wait. Ok, ok, I'll talk. It's in a secret room behind that wall," said Bowser as he pointed to a wall.

Mario looked at Luigi and nodded. The 2 walked over to the wall and the 2 slammed it as hard as they could with their hammers. The wall cracked, and broke, and behind it was a door. Mario opened it and the others followed. Inside was a giant room with the Koopa Cruiser.

"Wow!"

"It's so big!" said Green Guy.

"Nice thinking bro."

They all walked inside and went to the control room. They ran into a Koopa.

"Halt! You cannot use this Cruiser, Captain's orders.

Kaiper then got in her shell and hit the Koopa real hard and knocked him out.

""

"Oh yah, how do we fly this?" asked Toadia.

"I should be able to fly this with my skills I've learned from reading books," said Kaiper as she eyed the controls.

"All right then! To Toad Town!" exclaimed Toadia.

Kaiper flew the Koopa Cruiser as best she could out of the castle and to Toad Town. When they landed, they got out, and the Koopa on board flew it back to the castle.

"Thanks for letting us fly the ship," yelled Kaiper to the Koopa as he flew the Cruiser away.

"Shut up Bookworm!" replied the Koopa.

Luigi then burst out laughing.

"Bwa ha ha ha! Bookworm! Ah ha ha"-

Kaiper then pounded Luigi on the head.

They went to the shop to restock on items, then walked over to the entrance to Forever Forest then.

"Well, this is it," said Green Guy.

"Gulp," said Toadia.

Mario looked ahead, and charged as the others followed!

_What message does Lady Bow wish to tell Mario? Why are the Boos doing this? And what is up with General Guy and those Shy Guys? Will Mario and co get the last piece? _

_To Be Continued…_

Comments:

Man, I read this chapter and couldn't stop laughing. This is one of my funniest chapters! But anyways, Brawl is coming out an I'm excited! Who isn't? I'll try to post chapters 7 and 8 but am unsure. No, I'm not unsure because I'll be too busy playing Brawl to finish the story. I'm unsure because everyone else will be too busy playing Brawl to read the rest of the story.

AND REVIEW PLZ!!!!


	8. Chapter 7: The Final Piece to the Puzzle

Don't worry, this is the last time I will change this chapter. :)

I do not own any of the Mario characters and they are owned by Nintendo and Intelligent Systems

(When Mario says that means he's saying something like in the Paper Mario games, you just don't know what he's saying.)

**Paper Mario: The Shadow Star Spirit**

Mario, Luigi, Kaiper, Green Guy, and Toadia all headed into Forever Forest.

**Chapter 7**

**The Final Piece (s) to the Puzzle**

The 5 slowly walked into the scary den known as Forever Forest.

"Oh man…I'm scared of ghosts too," said Luigi as he shook.

""

"Easy for you to say Mario," remarked Toadia.

"Oh come on, you guys need to look at the bright side here," said Kaiper.

"What bright side? There's darkness everywhere!" exclaimed Luigi.

"Well very few have been in here so we are kind of like travelers searching for the unknown. Isn't it exciting!"

Luigi slapped himself on the forehead as they walked on until they came to a fork.

"Um…now what?"

Mario pointed right and so they went that way. They eventually came to another fork and they went right again. They started to just pick random ways and they were going on for a while. Eventually:

"Hey, haven't we passed this rock before?" asked Toadia as she pointed at a rock.

"What makes you say that?" replied Green Guy.

"Well I drew on it and there is the drawing," she said as she pointed to a mushroom drawing.

"Wait, so you're saying that"-

"Mario! You're leading us in circles!" exclaimed Kaiper, "I thought you'd been here before!"

""

"What do you mean you forgot the way through!"

""

"You've been guessing this whole time?" screamed Kaiper.

Suddenly a giant boo appeared behind Kaiper and Luigi and looked at Mario, Toadia, and Green Guy and gave a loud scare!

"BOO!"

Toadia and Green Guy screamed and ran away with Mario chasing. Luigi and Kaiper turned around, but the boo was gone. They then ran after them and eventually came to tired Mario.

"Where are Toadia and Green Guy bro?"

""

"Well they were scared, but now they're lost. We have to find them. I guess I'll have to use this!" said Kaiper as she pulled out a small radar, "This is a radar I invented and will track down how to get through the forest!

"WHY DIDN'T YOU PULL THAT OUT IN THE FIRST PLACE?" exclaimed Luigi.

"I wanted to see how much the great Mario remembered."

Luigi slapped himself on the forehead again and Kaiper walked ahead looking at the radar. 

"Let's just get out of the forest and maybe we'll meet them. After all, they don't have Mario or Luigi with them so they'll be fine."

As Kaiper walked, 2 hammers banged her on the head.

Meanwhile, Toadia and Green Guy had finally stopped running and were trying to find a way out.

"This place is so scary…where is the way out?" trembled Toadia.

"Don't worry Toadia, we'll be out in no time, and then"-

Toadia then jumped on Green Guy and Green Guy's face fell onto the dirt.

"What was that for?" said Green Guy as he wiped the mud off his mask/face.

"I think I heard something laughing."

"Then tell me about it, don't jump on me. Now please get off of me."

"Okay, sorry."

Toadia jumped up, and walked away and Green Guy ran ahead.

"Ugh, why is Toadia so scared?" muttered Green Guy to himself, "I must admit this place is a bit scary, but she always gets so scared when she hears a ghost noise, or even when she just sees"-

Toadia jumped on Green Guy again and his face landed in a pile of mud. He slowly stuck his face up so he could talk and spit some mud out of his mouth.

"Oh my gosh…Toadia…what is it now?"

"I saw a bush and it looked like a green monster."

"Sigh, will you get off of me, and please stop jumping on me. If you're scared just hold my hand or something, okay?"

"O…okay…sorry."

Toadia got up and Green Guy got up. As they walked Toadia quickly clung onto Green Guy's arm. Suddenly a Boo popped up and made a scary face.

"BOO!"

Toadia screamed. Green Guy transformed into his jungle form and zapped the Boo. It then got scared and ran away.

"Ha ha, got it. Okay Toadia, let's go…Toadia?"

Green Guy then looked up to see Toadia hiding in a tree.

"Phew, thanks…heh heh…ACK!"

Toadia tripped and fell off of the branch she was on and fell toward the ground.

"Don't worry. I gotcha! I got"-

POW! Toadia fell on top of Green Guy. As Green Guy opened his eyes, he saw Toadia shaking. He slowly pushed her off of him and got up.

Suddenly 5 Boos appeared.

"Toadia don't get scared, they are tiny ghosts. Pretend they are…um…marshmallows! Yah! Marshmallows!" 

Toadia jumped back up into the tree.

Green Guy: "sigh."

**BATTLE!**

The 5 Boos charged! Green Guy changed into his jungle form and got a lightning bolt on his disk. Green Guy then jumped into the air and zapped 2 of the Boos and they ran away and disappeared. The other 3 all hit Green Guy and banged him into tree Toadia was in. The tree shook. Toadia fell out and landed on 2 of the Boos squashing them. The other Boo got scared and ran away.

"Are you okay?" said Toadia.

"Quick! Follow that boo!"

"What?"

"That boo will probably go to Boo's Mansion. Let's follow it!"

"Oh yah! Let's go!"

Green Guy and Toadia slowly followed the Boo while not being noticed. They eventually came to…Boo's Mansion! The boo turned invisible as it went into the house.

"Phew, we actually made it. All right, let's go in!" said Green Guy.

"But…what about the other 3?"

"Oh yah…well…"

"AAAAHHHH!"

"!" said the 2 as they looked around.

Suddenly Mario, Luigi, and Kaiper all fell from the sky and landed in front of them. As they got up:

"What's a cannon doing in a dark scary forest?" complained Kaiper.

"You're the one who said to get in the hole. "The radar says it'll lead to Boo's Mansion." Sure…you didn't even know it was a cannon. You thought it was a pipe! Now we're even more lost. Right, bro…bro?"

Luigi and Kaiper got up and looked around to see Mario talking with Green Guy and Toadia.

"Green Guy! And Toadia! Horray! We found you! Now all we have to do is find the… (He notices the mansion). We found it!"

"Who was right? Who said to go into the cannon?"

"You said it was a pipe!"

"Uh…guys?" interrupted Toadia.

Luigi and Kaiper turned and saw that the other 3 were walking inside. They both quickly followed them. As the 5 entered, they looked around. It was a huge mansion. There were Boos flying around the whole mansion. Toadia grabbed onto Green Guy.

"This place looks so scary." 

Just then, 5 trapdoors opened, under all of them. They all tried to fly or grab onto a ledge, but only Toadia could. The other 4 all fell down different holes into the mansion. Toadia screamed and quickly jumped down the same hole as Green Guy.

…

Luigi slowly opened his eyes. He looked around. He was in an empty room with nothing but a door. He noticed another ledge with a door, but it was really high. Luigi walked into the bottom door. There was nothing there except for a real big treasure chest.

"Hmm…I have a bad feeling about this, but what else am I to do?"

Luigi walked over and opened the treasure chest. Suddenly, a whole bunch of Boos shot out of the chest. Luigi quickly screamed and looked around. The Boos had him surrounded.

" Hee hee. Poor Luigi. All alone."

"Time for you to say good-bye Luigi. Heh heh"

Luigi screamed and quickly pulled out his hammer and started swinging left and right and everywhere.

He ran all around the room swatting everywhere hitting each Boo.

"Hey! Stop that Luigi!"

"We were only joking!" cried the Boo.

"AAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHH!"

Luigi hit every Boo with his hammer until they were all gone and then he slowly stopped.

"Huff….huff…heh….that was kind of scary…but no one can stop the great Luigi. But, now what?"

Luigi looked around and eventually came to the treasure chest again.

"Well this is still the only thing in here. I wonder if…wait a second! There's a hole in here. Well, here goes."

Luigi jumped into the treasure chest and fell into the bottom floor. He looked around and saw this time another treasure chest. Luigi walked over and opened it up. He then held up…ULTRA BOOTS! Yes, Luigi had found Ultra Boots which gave him the ability to jump super high with a high jump. He walked over to the hole he went through and used the High Jump to jump through the hole back to the middle floor. Then he went back into the door and used the high jump to get to the door. He walked inside. In the room he saw a hole on the ceiling and an Ultra Block. He was about to jump through the hole when the block broke. And out came…Mario!

"Bro! You're okay! Oh I'm so happy! Thank goodness. I was just about to jump out too with my new Ultra Boots. Pretty cool huh?"

""

"What? You got some too when you fell? Wow, that's great. Then, let's go!"

The 2 jumped through the hole into the next room. In the room, there were chairs floating all over the place and the tables were too.

"Uh…oh."

Mario quickly jumped on all of the chairs and tables. The chairs and tables would all fall down a little bit and then Boos became visible under them.

"Ow!"

Luigi then helped Mario and all the chairs and tables soon fell back into place. The Boos all went into the next room. Mario and Luigi followed. In the room all the Boos were close and looking at them.

"Well, it would seem that our trick can not fool you like it did the Toad and Shy Guy. Ha ha! They are so weak."

"What? You saw Green Guy and Toadia! Tell us where they are!"

"Ha! Let's see if you can defeat us first. Boos! Gather!"

All the boos started to get close. They started to slowly go inside each other. They slowly got bigger, bigger, and bigger. Until eventually…they formed one great large Boo!

"Ha ha! Come on now!"

**BATTLE!**

The Big Boo charged. Mario and Luigi both pulled out their hammers and equally charged. Mario and Luigi jumped and swung their hammers. They hit the Boo and it flew and went through the wall. Mario and Luigi ran into the next room. The Big Boo then surprised them and slammed them both back into the room, then followed them. Mario and Luigi both got up and the Boo then floated above them and started to slam down. Both bros did a super jump and went right back at it. Mario and Luigi hit the Big Boo so hard that it flew through the ceiling into the room above. Mario and Luigi then used the super jump to blast into the room. In it there were holes everywhere, all around the room. Luigi stepped on one, but he didn't fall through. Mario stepped on one and he didn't fall through either. Just then a Boo appeared and pushed Luigi onto another hole and this time he fell through. 

"Ha ha! Some are real and some are fake! Hee hee!"

The Boo then disappeared and Luigi jumped back up. The two both swung their hammers really fast and started to move. Luckily, they didn't cross any real holes. They hit each Boo and eventually hit the invisible Big Boo turning it visible. They both hit it as hard as they could until…it blew up. But then more Boos appeared. The bros moved around when they both stepped on a real hole. Mario and Luigi fell through still swinging their hammers really fast. They swung them so fast that they fell through the hole onto the floor below and they went below each floor because they could not stop swinging their hammers. They eventually came to the bottom stone floor. They both hit real hard and finally slowly stopped spinning.

"Ugh…I am SO dizzy!"

""

"And now we are even lower in this place. But where are we now?"

Mario and Luigi got up and noticed a locked door.

"Hmm…"

Just then the wall behind them exploded and out came Toadia and Green Guy.

"HEY!" exclaimed Luigi.

"MARIO! LUIGI! YAY!" screamed Toadia.

""

"Not to worry Mario, you see we were able to come across a…KEY!" said Green Guy as he pulled one out.

"Nice job! Now, let's go!"

Green Guy put the key in and the door opened. They went into the next room to find a pipe. They all went in. When they came out, they were in the room they were in when they first entered. They saw the holes they fell down.

"Yes! We're finally back to where we started. But…where is Kaiper?"

"Who cares!" said Luigi and Green Guy at the same time.

Mario and Toadia both looked at Green Guy and Luigi and they both looked at each other for a second. Then they all laughed. They then saw a big set of winding stairs and started up it.

There were Boos that flew around the stairs. The group all had to stop every now and then and catch their breath of how scared they were. They eventually came to the top of the stairs when they came to a door. However, it was locked. The group then saw another door and went inside. When they entered they found Kaiper and some shy guys fighting 5 Boos. Kaiper was weak, but the shy guys were able to defeat all of the Boos. Then they gave the key the Boo dropped to Kaiper and jumped away.

"Yes! Got the key!"

"What the heck are shy guys doing helping you?" asked Luigi.

"!" she said as she noticed them, "They were helping me. Anyways, what took you so long?"

""

"Hmm, I see. Well you know I read all about the boos and their tricks so I was easily able to get to the top, and now I got the key." 

"Heh heh heh. I suppose we must intervene."

"!" said the 5 as they all looked around.

"I got a bad feeling about this." 

Suddenly 3 Dark Boos appeared in front of the 3.

"We will not let you get away with that key."

"Wh-Wh-What? There is no information about a um…Dark Boo," said Kaiper as she frantically looked at all her books, "What are you?"

"Heh heh. You see we are a new type of Boo just created (remember, this adventure takes place before Paper Mario: TTYD). And we have a great power that will put you all to pieces."

"Ha! Like what?" laughed Luigi.

"Heh heh heh…"

Suddenly all the Dark Boos started to move really fast in circles They went faster and faster and faster until eventually, they created a mini tornado. They moved until they were right above Kaiper.

"Um…" she said.

Suddenly the tornado sucked up Kaiper.

"HELP!" came a voice from inside the tornado.

"!"

"Oh no!" cried Mario.

"Let's get out of here!" screamed Toadia.

The 4 all turned and started to run really fast, but it was no use. Green Guy got sucked up into the tornado, and soon Toadia was next. But then the tornado started to slow down, until it eventually stooped. Out emerged Kaiper, Green Guy, and Toadia, all with pure black eyes and an evil look on their face. 

"Heh heh heh!" laughed Kaiper, "WE have successfully taken over these poor souls's body. Now you shall feel our wrath."

"Wha-What? The Dark Boos took control of them and are now inside them," said Luigi in a stunned voice.

**BATTLE!**

Kaiper got in her shell and charged at the bros. Mario hit Kaiper as hard as he could back as Green Guy and Toadia. Toadia jumped onto Kaiper and jumped off the wall charging at them. As she came at Mario…Luigi banged her on the head and she fell down defeated. Green Guy then turned into his jungle form and then shot a lightning bolt at Mario and Luigi. They both dodged it, but Kaiper rammed into Luigi who fell back into the wall. Mario then charged at Green Guy. He jumped back and shot another bolt at Mario as Kaiper charged. Mario aimed his hammer, and hit Kaiper right at the lightning bolt. Kaiper was shocked and fell defeated. Green Guy then shot another bolt and Mario dodged it again, and then he shot another bolt, but failed again. However, Green Guy moved every time Mario got close to him. Then when Green Guy was ready to shoot another bolt, Luigi came out of nowhere and slammed Green Guy on the head. The Dark Boos all floated out of them.

"Hee hee hee! Now your friends are hurt very badly. You will never beat Lady Bow in this condition. Hee hee hee hee!"

The Dark Boos floated into the room where the locked door was. Mario and Luigi both reached in their pockets, but only had a few mushrooms, but it was enough. They gave the other 3 their last items to wake them up. Then they all went into the locked room, with no back up plan. When they entered they found the 3 Dark Boos and…Lady Bow!

"Ah Mario, so you finally have returned. What took you so long?"

"" said Mario in an angry voice.

"Yes I knew of that."

"Heh heh. Please Lady Bow, give us the honor of trouncing these fools!" said one of the Dark Boos.

"Yes yes yes!" remarked the other Dark Boos.

"Now now, do not worry, your time will come. First let us test their powers."

Lady Bow then whistled, and 5 Boos suddenly charged at the 5 heroes. All of them powered up, and unleashed devastating attacks to KO them all in one hit.

"Wow, I am impressed. All right then Dark Boos, have at thee!"

The Dark Boos all spun in a circle really really fast, until they created another tornado.

"I'll handle this," said Green Guy.

Green Guy turned into his jungle form and zapped a series of lightning bolts at the vortex. The vortex started to get electrocuted all over until eventually the Dark Boos were electrocuted and then the Dark Boos fell to the ground, defeated.

"Oh my! Such Power!" cried Lady Bow, "Mario you have grown much stronger! Maybe you…can…defeat…the..."

"?"

"It is nothing! Mario I am sorry for all this trouble but I must tell you something important. It is about the Shadow Star Spirit."

"What?" asked Luigi.

"Yes, do tell," said Kaiper.

"Ah not yet, first, Boo!" yelled Bow.

Suddenly a Boo floated over hold 5 stars that looked like the Power Star Kaiper had before.

"THAT'S…" gasped Kaiper.

"These are Power Stars. If you 5 believe in light, this star will power you up as much as the light you are believing in. The Star Spirits made one, but we found a way to make them faster. All you need to do is hold them and believe in light and you'll power up. Also you can always use them even though you know what they are."

The Boo then gave Mario and co. Power Stars.

"If you use these to its full power, you can defeat the Shadow Star Spirit. But enough of that, I must tell you about the Shadow Star Spirit. First, you do know how the Shadow Star Spirit was sealed away and all 4 pieces must be brought to the seal for it to be revived?"

"Yes, we are aware of that," replied Toadia.

"Well…you see…the Shadow Star Spirit grows stronger. Every second, every minute, every hour, every day, it grows. Because it was simply sealed it eventually found a way to make itself stronger and now it so very powerful. And you see…I am afraid that the Shadow Star Spirit has become so powerful that it can revive itself simply when all 4 pieces are gathered no matter what the place."

"Oh…" said Kaiper, "So you took the piece so that we would not gather them all causing the Shadow Star Spirit to be revived?"

"Yes, however I must also tell you the matter about the Shy Guys as it regards the great evil that Shadow Star Spirit defeated when he was not a bad spirit. You see"-

Suddenly a ton of Shy Guys and General Guy burst through the door behind Mario and co. They all ran into the door behind Bow. Then some Boos flew out of the door defeated.

"Sorry Lady Bow, they are too strong."

"No!..." said Bow.

Just then General Guy came back into the room.

"Here Mario! Catch!"

General Guy threw the final Shadow Star Spirit Piece at Mario.

"Nooooooooooooo!" cried Bow.

The piece spun around Mario.

**You got the final Shadow Star Spirit Piece! Is this good or bad?**

Suddenly, the piece froze. It started to spin. Then the other 3 pieces came out of Mario and spun with the other piece. All 4 pieces spun until they all stopped. Then one by one they connected until they formed a pure black star. Then 2 big white eyes slowly emerged on the top of the black star and…the SHADOW STAR SPIRIT WAS FORMED!

"NO! This is exactly what I was trying to prevent!" said Bow.

The Shadow Star Spirit looked around.

"Wow, it sure has been a while. What has it been, thousands of years?"

General Guy then kneeled.

"Oh great honorable Shadow Star Spirit. I have longed for your return. And now it has come! Oh yes!"

"Hmm, so you are the new leader of the Shy Guys. And you are?"

"General Guy sir."

"Ah I see. Well then General guy, please tell me what enemies we need to delete before taking over the world."

"First off and most importantly is that guy!" said General Guy as he pointed at Mario.

"Huh?" said Mario as he pointed at himself.

"are you sure General guy?"

"Of course I am! I couldn't defeat him even with these powerful Shy Guys!"

"What? Fine! Then I shall dispose of them. BEGONE!"

**BATTLE!**

The SSS (Shadow Star Spirit) glowed and made a star appear above itself, then disappear. Suddenly a ton of stars fell from the sky. The 5 jumped around dodging each one. Then Mario ran under the SSS and did a Super Jump. The SSS just closed its eyes, then opened them fast, and Mario was sent to the ground. Luigi hit Kaiper (in shell) at the SSS. But then the SSS started to glow. He dodged Kaiper and slammed right into Luigi sending him flying. He hit the wall. Toadia then jumped on the SSS but it had no affect. His top point then started to glow and he shot a dark lightning bolt at Toadia and hit her. She fell defeated. Mario then jumped into the air and swung his hammer. It hit, but the SSS quickly countered with a dark lightning bolt and shocked Mario. He fell backward onto the ground. Green Guy then changed into his jungle form and shot a bolt at him. The SSS countered with a dark bolt. The 2 bolts hit and made a small explosion. Then they shot more bolts at each other. Just then Luigi jumped into the air behind the SSS and slammed his hammer onto the SSS as hard as he could. The SSS quickly countered by shooting a dark bolt at Luigi which shocked him. But then tons of bolts came from Green Guy and hit the SSS real hard. It then closed its eyes and opened them fast. A shield appeared around it and the lightning bolts had no effect. It then powered up and shot a huge lightning blast that hit all 5 so hard…they couldn't get up.

"HA HA HA HA! Now they were not so tough!"

Mario slowly opened his eyes. He could see the SSS's power. It was the essence of evil. He knew it was strong, but knew he could win. He beat General Guy at Yoshi's Island and at Bowser's Castle. He wasn't going to give up! Suddenly the Power Star inside him glowed, and Mario then floated into the air super powered. The others saw how he did this and quickly thought of light to change as well. The SSS looked in horror to see Mario and Luigi both with a yellow cape. Green Guy was all white, and Toadia's cape was white too. Also her head had yellow spots. Kaiper…wasn't any different, and her Power Star seemed to be powering her up the least.

"Hey, mine isn't working!" she screamed.

"Show's how evil she is," laughed Luigi and Green Guy.

The SSS then had another shield come around it and shot stars at the 5. The 5 all charged and the stars bounced off them with no affect. In a surprise attack, the 5 all powered up and did super cool special attacks to KO the SSS in one huge hit. The 5 then returned to normal and the SSS fell to the floor.

"Ugh…no…how could I lose? And to these fools. How? Heh heh, but I shall come back,"said the Shadow Star Spirit. It then turned towards General Guy and said, "General guy, you will revive me right? You know what to do?"

"As always honorable Shadow Star Spirit."

"Good, and You! Mustached one! Don't expect our battle to be over. I will come back and fight you again. And I will be stronger too. So until then, farewell."

The SSS slowly dissolved into little star particles and floated into the sky. 

"It would appear that once again, you defeated evil because of those darn Power Stars. Urgh! Those……evil inventions! SHY GUYS ATTACK!"

Suddenly tons of Shy Guys came from the room and tackled Mario and co. They tried to fend them off, but they were too weak from the battle against the SSS. Just then Shy Guys ran over to General Guy and gave him their Power Stars.

"Ha! Now you will never defeat me! And now I shall revive the SSS and it will be even stronger. I'm sure you know about this Lady Bow. Now then: SHY GUYS! TO THE TOYBOX!"

General Guy and his Shy Guys ran out of the room.

"Mario…you have done well, however…the threat is not yet over," said Bow.

"But…why?" asked Toadia.

"Well, you see, the seal keeps the SSS alive."

"!" said the 5.

"You see, the seal keeps the SSS from leaving. It was stuck in the seal. However, when the SSS was revived it was still linked to the seal, but was powerful enough to stay away from it. When you defeated the SSS, it was pulled back to the seal. However now that the seal has already been found and the SSS has been formed, it simply needs to be summoned by the one who unlocked the seal in the first place to make the 4 pieces come out, and I am pretty sure that the one who unlocked the seal first is"…

"General Guy!" said Luigi.

"Yes, and you see the seal was actually in his Toy Box, and now he shall revive it again and again."

"But then how do we defeat the SSS?" asked Green Guy.

"It is not the SSS that you must destroy my dear friends, but the seal. Now that the SSS has been defeated by you 5, only the seal is keeping it alive. So, you must go to the Toy Box in order to defeat it."

"All righty then," said Luigi, "But…he took our Power Stars."

"I am sorry, but they are very time consuming and those were the only ones we could make. All I can say is that you get them back from General Guy."

"Ok."

"Let's-a-go!" said Mario.

The 5 started to leave when-

"Mario, wait!" cried Bow.

"!"

"I wish to supply you with some items and to heal you."

Suddenly Boos came out giving them Ultra Mushrooms and Jammin Jellies and they healed them all to full HP. The 5 all started to walk out when Mario then stopped and remembered something. He told the others to go on ahead and he ran back to Lady Bow. He talked to her and she said it was in the other room and that she was sorry about that. Mario quickly ran into the next room to find…Princess Peach! (Yah, I forgot about her too). 

"M-M-M-M-Mario!" she exclaimed, "You finally came! Oh boy I knew you would come!"

Mario happily ran and jumped to Peach. They gave each other a great big happy hug. 

"Oh Mario, I knew you would come. I'm so happy. A tear dropped from her eye, then they both turned and looked at each other smiling. Peach slowly moved her face closer to his. Mario turned all red. He wondered if this was real. Peach did too.

…………

Outside the mansion the other 4 were looking around wondering how to get out.

"Hmm…maybe we can…no…hmm…"

Just then Twink suddenly flew down.

"Oh Luigi, what are you all doing?"

"Well, we are trying to find a way out."

"Oh, well here we go."

Twink started gaining a whole bunch of power, then POOF! A glowing crystal star appeared.

"What is this?"

"This is a rare Crystal Star. With it you can warp to any town in the Mushroom Kingdom as long as you've been there before. Just call it a thanks. So……. I heard the SSS is back."

"Yes, we are going to try to defeat it for good at the Toy Box," said Luigi.

"Okay then, I'll go get help. I'll see you guys in Toad Town," said Twink as he floated away.

"Wait! What do you mean you'll see us in Toad Town?" said Toadia as she ran up to Luigi with the others.

But Twink was already gone.

"Well, now we can go back to Toad Town," said Green Guy.

"But where is br"-

Just then Mario and Peach came out of Boo's Mansion.

"Pr-Pr-Princess Peach! You're okay!" cried Luigi.

"Yes, Bow let me out and Mario escorted me."

"Well that's good, now let's go!" said Kaiper.

Luigi held up the star and it suddenly turned into a door. Kaiper stepped in, followed by Green Guy and Toadia. As Luigi was about to enter:

"By the way, what took you guys so long?"

Peach and Mario both instantly blushed so much there was no way to tell they weren't and they both turned away.

"Well Lady Bow had a long apology and she told us a bit about the SSS and stuff like that, but it didn't matter, um…can we get back to my castle?"

"O…………k well let's go!" said Luigi as he entered.

"Thank you Luigi! Thank you all!" said Peach as she entered the door, followed by Mario.

They went through and as they did Mario thought…

**You Saved Princess Peach!**

**END OF CHAPTER!**

**And so the 5 were able to successfully navigate through forever forest and get to the top of Boo's Mansion. Even though the SSS was revived, Mario and co were able to defeat it, however now they must race General Guy to the end of his Toy Box. Who will win in this final Showdown?**

-------------------------------------------------Bowser-------------------------------------------------

Bowser walked around the castle waiting. He eventually stopped as he heard a voice.

"You're Lorshipness, we are here!"

The Koopa Bros and Tutankoopa suddenly entered the room.

"We have come to your aid oh your Cruelness," said Red.

"Yes Very good. All right I think you know why I called you all here. As you know, Mario has raided our castle and has humiliated us….again. So we must chase him down and confront him one last time."

Suddenly Kammy Koopa then flew into the room at top speed.

"YOUR HIGHNESS! I BRING TERRIBLE NEWS!"

"Uh oh, now what?"

"Well, the SSS has been revived and was defeated by Mario. It went back to the seal and Mario is going to destroy it."

"Well, I guess that's not too good."

"Um…that is not the bad news…you see…" murmured Kammy Koopa.

"Yes?" persisted Bowser.

"Well…GENERAL GUY WAS AGAINST YOU THE WHOLE TIME! HE IS THE ONE WHO ORIGINALLY AWAKENED IT AND THE SEAL WITH THE SSS IS IN HIS TOYBOX! HE PLANS TO REVIVE IT AND MAKE IT STRONGER THEN CONQUER THE MUSHROOM KINGDOM! HE WAS DECIEVING YOU THE WHOLE TIME!

WWWWWWWWWWWHHHHHHHHHHHHHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAATTTTTTTTTTTTT! G-E-N-E-R-A-L G-U-Y! URGH! ALL RIGHT, NEW PLAN! KOOPA BROS! TUTANKOOPA! KAMMY KOOPA! WE ARE GOING TO SHY GUY'S TOY BOX TO CONQUER GENERL GUY AND MAKE HIM PAY! KAMMY KOOPA! GET ALL THE TROOPS READY! 

"Yes lord!" said Kammy Koopa as she flew out of the room.

Bowser then muttered to himself, "You're gonna pay General Guy. You're gonna pay."

-------------------------------------------Jr. Troopa----------------------------------------------------

Jr. Troopa slowly got up after being knocked unconscious.

"Oh my head! Why does it hurt so much? Wait a second, wasn't it the Shy Guys that hit me? And now that I think about it where am"-

He suddenly noticed that he was in a cage.

"WHAT? LET ME OUT OF HERE! YOU MEAN OLD SHY GUYS! LET ME OUT!" 

Suddenly the cage was hit by some Shy Scientists.

"Quiet you fool! Once the test is over you can go, okay."

"Test? What Test?" cried the little koopa.

"We are just going to test if we can copy the Dark Boo's special ability."

"What does that have to do with me?"

"Heh heh. Just sit tight Jr. Troopa. You will soon find out when we inject this possible finished potion in you."

"WHAT? NO! SOMEBODY HELP ME!"

--------------------------------------------------Mario--------------------------------------------------

Mario and Peach came out of the door and it disappeared and turned into the star and went into Luigi's pocket. 

The 5 all looked around Toad Town when suddenly they saw 2 Anti Guys with a bunch of Shy Guys behind them.

"Why if it isn't Mario. Heh heh. We were told to slow you down so Lord General Guy can revive the SSS and that is what we shall do."

"Uh oh Bro! This doesn't look good, they outnumber us by a TON."

"Prepare to meet your doom!" shouted the Anti Guy.

_To Be Continued…In the Final Chapter…_

REVIEW!_  
_


	9. Chapter 8: The Box Showdown

I do not own any of the Mario characters and they are owned by Nintendo and Intelligent Systems

I do not own any of the Mario characters and they are owned by Nintendo and Intelligent Systems

(When Mario says that means he's saying something like in the Paper Mario games, you just don't know what he's saying.)

**Paper Mario: The Shadow Star Spirit**

Mario, Luigi, Kaiper, Green Guy, and Toadia all prepared to battle the 2 Anti Guys and Shy Guys.

**Chapter 8**

**The Box Showdown**

All the Shy Guys surrounded the 5.

"Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha! Now we have you surrounded."

"We can still win!" said Kaiper.

"Heh heh heh. I think you fail to see what you are up against. Look around you. Shy Guys as far as the eye can see. This is the whole Shy Guy army. Do you think you can stop us even with our added super power from the Shadow Star Rod?"

"The SHADOW STAR ROD!?" exclaimed Luigi.

"What did General Guy say about talking about that!?" said the Anti Guy as it banged the other one on the head.

"What!? I never heard about that?" said Green Guy.

"Well now that you know, we cannot let you live. Prepare for your doom!"

"Hold it right there!" came a voice.

"!"

Suddenly Twink arrived with thousands and thousands of people behind him.

"Mario, we have come to help you…in the final battle," said Twink, "I have brought friends of yours from your whole adventure."

Mario and co. looked back. They saw the Toads, Goombas, and Koopas. All their friends were there. The Goomba family, Kooper, even Kolorado. Then they saw all the penguins and duplighosts. And Duplow was there too. Then they saw all the Yoshis and Toads and Rawk Hawk from the tournament. They saw all the Lakitus including Lakilester. All the Boos and Lady Bow had come.

"Sorry we're late Mario, but we came to help," said Goombario.

"Oh yah!" nodded Mario.

"URGH! So you want a battle huh? Well then you'll get a battle. You may outnumber us, but we Shy Guys are stronger. Now then…SHY GUY ARMY! ATTACK!"

"ATTACK! DON'T LET THEM WIN!" yelled Twink.

Both armies charged into the battlefield. KABOOM! There was fighting everywhere. Mario and Luigi charged at the Anti Guys!

**BATTLE! (oh yah, and Peach went back to the castle XD )**

The Anti Guys jumped into the air Mario and Luigi used the super jump when they were above them to send them flying. When they came down, they both changed into jungle forms just like Green Guy. They shot lightning bolts at Mario and Luigi. They both dodged each one until they came down. When they landed Mario charged and hit them both as hard as he could with his hammer. They flew into the crowd. But then they came out of nowhere at super fast speed and punched both of them in the face sending them into a Toad's house. Mario and Luigi both slowly got up. Then they charged again. Mario and Luigi quickly brought their hammers back and hit them both as hard as they could. They went flying and hit some of their own Shy Guys. Then Mario and Luigi both started to spin. Both Anti Guys instantly got up and shot a lightning bolt at the two. They both let go of their hammers they hit the lightning bolt. The hammer destroyed the bolt and both slammed into the Anti Guys knocking them out. Both Bros quickly got their hammers back and fought their way through the battle until they came to the house where the Shy Guy's Toybox was. Green Guy was showing Kaiper and Toadia the entrance. Mario and Luigi quickly followed and they came to the box. They all jumped in.

They all came down and looked around for General Guy. They suddenly saw him talking to some Shy Guys. He then noticed Mario and co. and quickly ran into the next room. The (3) Shy Guys then charged at the 5. They all used special attacks to KO them. Then they continued into the next room.

In it they saw blocks floating up and down and there were platforms and everything. There was a giant hole under the platforms.

"What a puzzle. Shall we get on?" asked Toadia.

Kaiper then jumped on a platform as it rose up and down. Then she jumped to a moving block and the others followed. But then Kaiper jumped on a red platform. The platform then shot up into the air.

"EEEEEEEEK!"

Kaiper instantly got in her shell. The platform stopped, but Kaiper kept flying and she flew off the platform. She hit the ceiling, then fell down to the giant hole. Toadia quickly jumped by and caught her. Then she put her down.

"Phew, thanks Toadia."

Kaiper then noticed that some of the platforms were red and that they hadn't stepped on them before. She told the others to avoid them. And so they did, and they made it into the next room. It was a large room, with 2 doors, and one Shy Guy.

"uh…I'm…not afraid…of you Mar-Mar-io. I…won't…lose."

"All right, leave this one to me, guys," said Kaiper as she approached the Shy Guy.

"What? Why can't we all help you?" asked Luigi.

"Heh heh, because I'm going to finally see what is behind a Shy Guy's mask! HA HA!"

"WHAT ARE YOU DOING!" screamed Green Guy, "RUN YOU FOOL! DON'T LET HER CATCH YOU!"

The Shy Guy quickly turned around screaming and ran into the left door. Kaiper chased after him, however the room was dark with nothing around her. She looked around. Then she noticed there was nothing underneath her. She screamed and fell. The others quickly ran to the door.

"Dang it! It was a trap," said Luigi.

"Hey look. The other door leads to the next room," said Toadia from the other door.

"So the shy guy was a decoy," muttered Green Guy.

""

"You're right bro, let's go and maybe we'll find her ahead."

The 4 continued into the next room. There they found General Guy standing at the door.

"So, Mario I see that you have made it this far no problem. However, now you meet your end."

General Guy then whistled really loud and yelled, "ASSEMBLE!!"

Suddenly tons and tons of all kinds of Shy Guys came pouring out and all marched between Mario and co, and General Guy.

"Ha ha ha ha ha! This army is the real Shy Guy army. That one out front was a weaker version of this great one. You will never defeat this on your own. It is useless. But I would like to see you defeated so I shall watch. Now, my army…ATTACK!"

The Shy Guys all charged at the 4 and their doom seemed near, when suddenly-

"HOLD IT RIGHT THERE GENERAL GUY!!"

"!" said everyone as they stopped.

They all looked around to try and find who that was.

"Who dare calls my name?" said General Guy.

"PREPARE FORYOUR DEFEAT GENERAL GUY!"

Suddenly Bowser, Kammy Koopa, and the whole Koopa army emerged behind Mario.

"B-Bowser!?" exclaimed Luigi.

"Bowser!? What are you doing here!?" demanded General Guy.

"That's Lord Bowser you incompetent traitor! Now you're gonna pay for betraying me!"

"Ha! I have a far superior army to yours Bowser. I'd like to see you try to beat it."

"Very well General Guy, prepare for the full strength of the Koopa army…and plumbers. Mario, you'll help too, right?" asked Bowser.

"Oh yah."

"Good, then let's ally just this once, to conquer General Guy!"

Mario and Bowser both jumped together like true allies.

"Wow…" said Luigi.

"Sniff"

"!" said Luigi as he looked behind him to notice Kaiper, "Kaiper! But you fell in a hole!"

"Yes, after you 4 all left me alone in that hole, I found a ladder and climbed out…sniff."

"Oh, you're crying cause we left you. Well sorry Kaiper, we thought you would be stuck down there so we conti"-

"What are you talking about!? I didn't care about that. I don't even care about you guys. I'm crying because this will be a historical moment seeing Mario and Bowser fight side by side."

Luigi slapped himself on the forehead.

"I wish I had my camera…sigh."

"You're going down General Guy. You can't beat Mario AND Bowser," laughed Kammy Koopa.

"Grr…that may be, but I can, I know it, so I shall take my leave. After all, I have a SSS to revive. So, see ya chumps," said General Guy as he turned around and ran away.

"Coward," replied Tutankoopa.

"We'll get him. But first, to BATTLE! ATTACK!"

The 2 armies charged and the **BATTLE** began.

Mario and Luigi both hopped on top of Bowser. He charged and blew fire taking out some of the Shy Guys. Mario and Luigi then jumped off of him high into the air and slammed on 2 Shy Guys, then they pulled out their hammers and fought. Kaiper and the Koopatrols all got in their shells and charged. Green Guy and Toadia along with the Hammer Bros all charged into the battle. Kammy Koopa and the other Magikoopas stayed in the back and used magic to help them when they needed it. The Shy Guys however had Medi Guys which healed them and they had 3 Anti Guys which became some trouble. However, Bowser slammed on one of them real hard and a Koopatrol with Magikkops power took out the other 2. In the end, Mario and Bowser were able to win…barely.

"Phew, that was a hard battle," said Bowser.

"Wow Bowser you're really strong. I wonder how in the world my bro beats you so much."

"WHAT DO YOU KNOW, SO DO I!"

Everyone chuckled for a bit, then continued into the next room. There was a big hole around the whole room with no platforms or anything.

"Sir, I believe we have found the way."

Kammy Koopa then whistled and said, "Koopa Bros!"

Suddenly the Koopa bros fell from a hole they made in the ceiling. They walked up to the team.

"Yes, after researching the Shy scientists we have found that by walking on the far right side of the hole you will not fall. There is an invisible bridge there," said Red.

"Invisible Bridge!? Man how do they do that?"

"Well, they are just smarter and stronger then us sir."

"But why?"

"Ahem," said Kaiper, "Well, we heard an Anti Guy mention a Shadow Star Rod earlier and we believe that is the case. Now you see, I have made a hypothesis about the Shy Guys from this. You see, the Star Rod is always keeping the seal of the SSS invisible, or at least it was. So, maybe this Shadow Star Rod is constantly making all the Shy Guys more powerful. So if we destroy the rod, then all the Shy Guys will turn back to normal. Oh, but how did they get a Shadow Star Rod you ask?"

"Well not really…" muttered Bowser.

You see there are many theories I have come up with for this, but the best one I think is that the SSS became so powerful that it was able to make one. The 7 Star Spirits made the Star Rod after all, so the SSS must have made the Shadow Star Rod. Ah, but how can it be so powerful if only 1 Star Spirit made it compared to 7 making the other one, you ask? Well…"

Kaiper stopped and waited for a reply. Then she turned to see everyone was gone.

"Dang it, not again. Urgh, don't they want to hear my never ending knowledge?"

Kaiper quickly ran into the next room to find the others talking to General Guy.

"Bowser, you will never beat us. Even with Mario on your side, we are just too powerful," said General Guy in an ignorant voice.

"Okay then, how do you plan to stop us?" responded Luigi.

"Well…"

"My Lord! It is finished!"

"!"

Suddenly 2 Shy Scientists ran into the room with a potion.

"Sir, we've finished the potion. It is a success. We tested it and it works. We could even use it right now," said the Shy Scientist.

"Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha! Perfect!" laughed General Guy, "Prepare to taste the Shy Guy's wrath you fools!"

"I'll teach you to call me a fool. KOOPA ARMY! OLD HAG! ATTACK!"

"Old...hag?…sigh."

The koopas and Bowser with Kammy Koopa charged at General Guy when…he shot into the air and slammed the potion onto the ground. Everyone stopped and the potion broke splattering everywhere. General Guy landed untouched and ran along. Potion had gotten on Bowser, Kammy Koopa, and the small Koopa army.

"Hmm? What's this?" asked Bowser.

Suddenly the potion sank into all their skins and went into them. They all got real scared when suddenly…they all stopped moving. Then suddenly all their eyes turned pure black. They turned to the rest of the group with anger.

"AMAZING!" said Kaiper, "They've copied the Dark Boo's control ability! This is so cool! I want one of those!"

"Kaiper, this isn't the time. Now we have to face Bowser and the Koopa army," said Luigi.

"Don't worry. We'll help," said Tutankoopa.

"Yah, we have to do it for our Lord. Let's go!" said Red as the rest charged.

**BATTLE!**

Kammy Koopa shot a blast to make Bowser more powerful. Bowser jumped and slammed on the ground creating a shock wave. They all dodged the blow. Then Mario and Luigi both jumped and banged their hammers on Bowser. Bowser fell but then the army charged and ran over the bros. The Koopa bros and Kaiper all got in their shells and charged. They destroyed the Hammer Bros and Magikoops. Green Guy shot lightning bolts at the Koopatrols. Toadia jumped around distracting everyone and occasionally attacking one of them. Bowser was fighting Mario and Luigi as they jumped around them, but Kammy Koopa kept powering up Bowser. Tutankoopa then silently floated above her and…POW, slammed right on her real hard to knock her out. Tutankoopa then helped the bros to topple Bowser. Soon, they had won.

"Huh? Where am I?" asked Bowser as he woke up.

"Uh…I think we're in Shy Guy's Toy Box," muttered Kammy Koopa.

"Oh yah, where's General Guy? And why do I feel so weak?"

""

"WHAT!? Oh man. Well sorry but I can't help you guys any longer. Koopa bros…Tutankoopa…I'm counting on you to get revenge on General Guy," said Bowser in a tired voice.

"Of course sir, it would be an honor, said the 5 koopas as they kneeled.

So, Mario and co along with the Koopa bros and Tutankoopa continued into the next room knowing the end was near. They came to a room with floating Toads and floating penguins and everything.

"S-Scary!" said Toadia as she shook.

Suddenly a bunch of scary faces appeared all around them and said: BOO! Everyone was scared except Kaiper. She had a smart look on her face and she smiled for her knowledge. She walked through the faces to the back of the room and unplugged something. Everything shut off.

"Sheesh guys, it was just a projector. Come on, must I be the only one with so much knowledge?"

"sigh."

They all continued into the next and almost last room. There standing alone was General Guy. Behind him was a huge pedestal with a Black Star Rod at the top.

"The Shadow Star Rod!" exclaimed Kaiper.

"Yes. I thought you might be dumb enough to not realize it by no, but you do. So, without further ado,"

General Guy hopped to the top and picked up the Shadow Star Rod, and then hopped back down. He whistled. The last about 15 Shy Guys all came out as powerful as ever. There was an Anti Guy with them too.

"All right men, we are the last Shy Guys. We must defeat Mario. This is it. Are you all ready?"

The groups charged.

**BATTLE!**

The Koopa bros and Kaiper got in their shells and charged at the Shy Guys. However they jumped onto the Koopas. Then they punched inside the shells super hard to knock the koopas out. Green Guy then shocked as many Shy Guys as he could. The Anti Guy leaped at Green Guy, but Toadia came and slammed it into the ground. Then she jumped around, but he was just as fast. Meanwhile, Mario and Luigi were swinging at General Guy with their hammers. However, he was talented with the Shadow Star Rod. He was countering every attack and could fight both bros at the same time. As they fought each other, Tutankoopa had helped Toadia to defeat the Anti Guy and now they were all decimating the Shy Guy army. However General Guy had hit the bros a few times and the Shadow Star Rod had weakened them. The others then came in. General Guy started shooting dark blasts with the Shadow Star Rod which could KO them all in 1 hit. As they battled, Toadia quickly gave Kaiper and all the other hurt allies some items to heal them. However the Shadow Star Rod was too powerful and the bros were almost done. But suddenly, General Guy started to get weaker for no reason. He began to move slower and the blasts from the Shadow Star Rod were weaker. Then Green Guy shocked him and Tutankoopa slammed on him.

"What is this!? Why!?" he screamed.

"It is simple really," said Kaiper, "You see, the Shadow Star Rod is constantly giving you Shy Guys strength. However, you are using too much of its power against us so it can no longer power you up. Now our army can defeat you. In fact, I bet your Shy Guy army out in Toad Town is losing now."

"WHAT!? URGH…FINE THEN!"

General Guy then brought his arm back, and threw the Shadow Star Rod as far as he could. It flew out of the Toy Box and landed somewhere.

"HA HA! Now we shall be stronger," laughed General Guy.

"But you don't have the Shadow Star Rod," replied Kaiper.

"…Oh yah."

Everyone came in and creamed him. Kaiper laughed. General Guy was left beat up and defeated.

"Yes! We did it!" yelled Luigi, "Now, let's"-

"Don't worry sir! We shall save you!" came a voice.

"!"

"Oh great, now what?" said Red.

Suddenly, 3 Shy Scientists burst into the room.

"Lord General Guy sir, we have come to your aid."

"Ugh…" muttered General Guy.

"He's hurt very badly. We must act quickly and destroy these fools."

All 3 Shy Scientists whistled, and in came a familiar creature, except he had dark pure black eyes.

"Ha ha! We know you've fought this person many times before, but we've given him some potions to make him more powerful."

Who is it? You guessed it. Jr. Troopa!

"I will destroy Mario," said the dark troopa.

"Heh heh heh. All right then, go!"

**BATTLE!**

Jr. Troopa turned into his winged, magic form. He flew at super fast speed at the group. Tutankoopa was hit and he flew against the wall and banged against it real hard, then fell, defeated. Jr. Troopa then popped out his magic wand and shot giant dark magic blasts at everyone. Everyone ran around dodging each. He hit the Shy Scientists and knocked all of them out, but maybe it wasn't an accident. He then powered up and shot a giant magic blast at Mario. He held his hammer back and banged against it. But the blast then exploded and hit everybody it was so big, even Jr. Troopa. Jr. Troopa then got up and flew through the air shooting more blasts. The Koopas then all got in their shells and went to Luigi. He hit each one into the air at Jr. Troopa. He finally hit him, and he fell to the floor. They all then charged and banged into him. Jr. Troopa quickly changed into his super magic form and screamed. A magic shield then shot out around him sending everyone flying back. He then multiplied into copies of himself, each with a shield. "Only one is real," said Kaiper to the others. All the Jr. Troopas (30) charged at each person trying to jump on them. They knocked out the Koopa bros and were doing the same when Green Guy suddenly started to shoot lightning bolts everywhere. Toadia noticed a Jr. Troopa that was staying back as the others fought and told Green Guy. He hit Jr. Troopa and all the copies disappeared and Jr. Troopa slowly got up tired. "The shield doesn't affect your lightning," said Toadia to Green Guy. But then Jr. Troopa started to shoot lightning blasts at Green Guy with his wand. He shot back and there was lightning everywhere. Mario then had an idea. He jumped next to Jr. Troopa and waved to Green Guy. Green Guy shot a bolt at Mario. Mario deflected the bolt to Jr. Troopa. He never saw it coming, and was shocked. He then lay there, defeated.

"Oh, why do I hurt so much? What happened to me?" said a dizzy Jr. Troopa.

""

"WHAT!? Oh yes! Darn those Shy Guys. Urgh, but I can barely stand."

Mario turned to Luigi.

"We're all out of items bro, sorry."

"Darn it. Well…Jr. Troopa, Tutankoopa, and Koopa Bros, here are some coins. If you can, go to the inn in Toad Town and rest," said Toadia as she gave them all coins.

"Thanks. But, we won," said Red, "So…"

"WHERE'S GENERAL GUY!?" screamed Green Guy.

"!"

They all looked around to see General Guy was gone. Then Luigi noticed a hole in the corner of the wall.

"He must've gone through here. Come on," said Luigi as he ran ahead.

The others quickly ran through the door and down a dark hallway to the final room. The Koopa Bros, Jr. Troopa, and Tutankoopa could barely move. Jr. Troopa suddenly shot his head into the air with his eyes wide.

"I KNOW WHERE SOME ITEMS ARE!"

Mario and co. ran down some stairs while chanting to themselves, "Please don't let the SSS be revived, please."

They burst in to find General Guy along with the seal.

"Ha, you're too late. Now feel the wrath of the SSS with even more power."

General Guy then closed his eyes, looked up, and said "Oh great Shadow Star Spirit. I summon you from this seal. I summon you with even greater power. More power so you can be rid of all others in the world. Now…RISE!"

Suddenly the ground started to shake. The seal started to glow. There were flashes. And then, slowly, the SSS was revived, and was stronger then ever.

"Ah finally, I am back. Thank you for reviving me again General Guy. Now we can resume our reign of (notices Mario)…you still haven't beat him?"

"He's too powerful," cried General Guy.

"Fine, now that I am stronger I will defeat him. And you know what to do if I lose, right?"

"Yes."

"All right then. Mario! Your time has come! Prepare to die!"

**FINAL BATTLE!**

The 5 charged and all slammed on the SSS. The SSS let itself get hit, however, it took few damage. It was still there, with no scratches. "We are in trouble," said Kaiper as they attacked again, still with no damage. Then the SSS once again brought stars from the sky, however now they came too fast for the team to dodge. Soon they were all hit, and then the SSS powered up and shot a powerful dark energy blast at the 5. It was huge and too hard to dodge. Our heroes fell…defeated.

"HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA!! I am victorious! Now we can take over the world, General Guy. Let us go!"

"Yes, my lord!"

"HOLD IT!" came a voice.

"!"

The SSS and General Guy looked around frantically wondering what to do. Suddenly, the 7 Star Spirits, and the Star Rod appeared. Eldstar was holding the Star Rod.

(Okay listen to this. I'm writing this story, when I find out that I need to know the names of the 7 Star Spirits. Who in the world knows the names of the Star Spirits? Okay, so I go online to Google and search "Paper Mario Star Spirits." I click the first couple of links. Nothing. Nothing on these guys' names. So, I try "Mario Star Spirits." Nothing. So I figure I can go to a video game forum or something and ask what the names are, I mean these are hard core gamers. Nobody knew their names! I was stuck! Nothing for me to do. Nothing! I was about to stop, when suddenly, I had an idea. First I had to go to my closet and pull everything out so I can find my storage box. I finally found the box. Then I had to dig through the thing to find my N64 and Paper Mario. Then I had to hook it up, turn it on, go to my file, and check on the pause menu. I wrote the names down and put it back. DO YOU KNOW HOW LONG IT TOOK ME TO FIND THOSE NAMES!? But anyways, here's the rest of the story.)

"Mario, we've come to help you. Oh no! We're too late," said Klevar.

"SSS! My, it's been a while, hasn't it?" said Skolar.

"Grrr! Yes it has been all of you," replied the SSS.

"However you are too late! Mario has been defeated and the SSS is invincible," laughed General Guy.

"Fear not fellow Star Spirits, as we made a backup plan for this moment. Prepare to be taken down SSS! Now Star Spirits! Go!" said Eldstar.

All the Star Spirits except for Eldstar who was holding the Star Rod floated away.

"Oh no!" said the SSS.

"What? WHAT!?" yelled General Guy.

Meanwhile, the other 6 Star Spirits were flying around the whole mushroom kingdom. Mamar went all around Toad Town to those who fought in the battle and the Toads. She told them that Mario needed help and that they needed them all to make wishes to help give Mario more power. Mamar then flew back. All the Toads and others in Toad Town started to make wishes hoping that Mario, Luigi, and co could beat the Shy Guys.

Skolar went to Koopa Village where the remaining Koopas and some Bob-ombs were and told them the same thing, then flew back. Muskular went to the Crystal King's castle and told Doopliss and all the Duplighosts that unless Mario won, no one will beat the Shy Guys. Misstar went to Yoshi Island to tell the remaining Yoshis along with the Ravens the same thing. Klevar went to Glitzville and told the fighters and audience the same thing. Kalmar went to Flower Fields and told all the puffs and plants and everything about the Shy Guys and Mario, then flew off (all of the guys in chapter 6 and 7 are in Toad Town or Shy Guy's Toy Box).

Then, the 6 Star Spirits came back to the scene.

"We have done it Eldstar,"

"Good, very good."

"What? What did you do?" said General Guy nervously.

Suddenly sparkles started to come from all over the room.

"Wh-What is this!?"

All the sparkles then went into the Star Rod and it became more powerful then ever.

"Now the Star Rod is so powerful that it can do almost anything. It can even defeat me," cried the SSS.

"B-But I thought that you were…invincible!?"

"I am, but the seal below me isn't."

"Yes, and now we shall finish you off forever," said Eldstar.

"Heh heh heh, I am sorry to say that you are sadly mistaken. General Guy! The Shadow Star Rod! Heh heh. You see, I developed a Shadow Star Rod. It has made these Shy Guys so much powerful, and it can counter the Star Rod perfectly. Heh heh, so"-

"Uh…heh heh…um…lord…uh…about the….uh…Shadow Star Spirit."

"WHAT IS IT!?"

"Um…well you see…I was using the Shadow Star Rod to fight Mario, but using it weakened us Shy Guys…so…I threw it far away…and…I don't know where it is."

"WHAT!? YOU INSOLENT FOOL!!"

"ENOUGH! IT IS TIME!" screamed Eldstar, "But first,"

Eldstar held the Star Rod up in the air. A blast shot at Mario, Luigi, Kaiper, Green Guy, and Toadia. Suddenly strength started to go through them all. They all slowly got up, and looked up. They were back to full health, and were even stronger.

"I have revived Mario and his friends, and I also made them even stronger! And now, for you SSS!"

"Gulp, not again, NOT TO THAT FOOLISH STAR ROD!! NO!!"

Eldstar poined the Star Rod at the SSS. Then he pointed it at the seal. He held it up and ZAP! He sent all the Star Rod's power into a blast that shot at the seal in an instant you could barely see it. The seal…slowly…disappeared.

"NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!"

The SSS then floated to the ground. It started to fade. It was dieing.

"Finally, the Shadow Star Spirit threat is finished," said Luigi.

"And a new one will come," muttered the SSS.

"!"

"What are you talking about?" asked Toadia.

"Heh heh heh," laughed the SSS. It then turned to General Guy and said, "General Guy! The legendary box in the final room of this toy box, I have opened it."

"…………WHAT!?" was all he said.

"Yes, there is something I should tell you," said the SSS, "The Great Evil that once almost destroyed Toad Town and all the Toads, that is more powerful then me. It is what is inside that box. It is the strongest thing I have ever fought. So please, get revenge on these fools who defeated me. AVENGE ME GENERAL GUY!!"

The SSS then glowed and created a spark of little stars above it. It slowly floated into the next and final room. Then the SSS slowly…disappeared…forever.

"Oh my Goodness! If what the SSS says is true. Then…Ha! You fools are finished!" laughed General Guy.

He then pressed some sort of tiny button on the wall and a door opened. General Guy ran inside.

"This is bad!" said Eldstar as the others followed.

Mario and co along with the Star Spirits ran into the final room.

"If what the SSS says is true…then…the Great Evil will return," said Skolar.

"We're NOT gonna let that happen. Right, Mario?" said Green Guy.

Mario nodded and they burst into the room. It was dark. There was only a small light to see anything. The room was empty except for a giant box standing in the middle of the room…and there in front of it was…General Guy.

"Ha ha ha ha ha!! Prepare for your defeat! I think I'll start with the Star Spirits and their Star Rod."

General Guy waved his hand in the air. The box suddenly opened and a dark tornado emerged and it moved around all the Star Spirits. Eldstar dropped the Star Rod and the 7 Star Spirits all flew into the box. General Guy jumped in and the box closed.

"AAAAAAAAHHHHHHHH!!" screamed Kaiper.

The 5 instantly ran over trying to break open the box…but it was too strong.

"What are we gonna do bro? The Star Spirits are trapped inside there."

Mario looked down sad. Suddenly, the box shot open. The 5 jumped back and General Guy emerged from the box.

"HA HA HA!! That was so cool! Now it's your turn!"

Mario picked up the Star Rod and looked at General Guy.

"General Guy! You're going DOWN!" yelled Luigi.

"Well, we'll see about that. Ha ha ha! Prepare for the final battle Mario!"

General Guy waved his hand in the air. The box opened and the dark tornado came out and covered the whole room. General Guy let himself get sucked in. Mario and co all ran as fast as they could to get away from the tornado…but it was too late. The 5 all fell into the dark box.

…

Mario landed on a concrete floor. He looked around. It was dark. There was a slight sandstorm and there was dust flying everywhere. Mario slowly stood up and noticed there was no room, but 1 HUGE room. The other 4 got up and looked around.

"HA HA HA!!" came a voice.

"!"

"Are you losers ready?" said General Guy as he walked up to the 5.

"You won't get away with this."

"Oh but I already have. But where are my manners. Please, Mario, traitor, and the rest of you, WELCOME TO ANTI GUY'S TOY BOX!!" screamed General Guy as he faced the huge room.

"!"

Suddenly hundreds of Anti Guys moved around General Guy to crowd them.

"A-A-Anti Guy's…T-Toy Box?" said Green Guy.

"There's no end to them," said Toadia.

"WHAT!? BUT…HOW?"

"Heh heh heh, you see there are 2 types of Shy Guys. Shy Guys, and Anti Guys. I suppose when my ancestor and the Anti Guys lost to the SSS, they were sealed in here, but now they have been let out. There were a few Anti Guys the SSS didn't seal and that explains the few you fought. But enough about that, prepare for your doom!"

The 5 slowly stood up. Mario gripped the Star Rod, and charged.

**THE REAL FINAL BATTLE!!**

The Anti Guys instantly charged. Mario and Luigi both pulled out their hammers and swung in circles moving to hit them. Mario was using the Star Rod to do this at the same time. Anti Guys flew to land on them, but Toadia and Kaiper would protect the bros and hit them down. Meanwhile, Green Guy was zapping all the Anti Guys while dodging the others. They were winning! The anti Guys couldn't stand up to the powerful heroes. Mario and Luigi then started to move faster. Kaiper and Toadia jumped on top of them. They discovered that the 7 Star Spirits had powered them up much more then they thought.

But suddenly, they saw a huge tank coming, and General Guy was inside. It looked like the tank in Chapter 6, but was bigger. It had a laser cannon next to the light bulb, and there was gold armor all around it. The wheels had spikes on them and it looked really powerful (and cool ). General Guy fired the laser cannon. Luigi hit it with his hammer, but it didn't bounce off. It went right through the hammer and hit Luigi. Kaiper quickly pulled him out, but Luigi was hurt real bad. Mario stopped spinning. General Guy fired another laser. Mario held the Star Rod back and hit the laser with the Star Rod. The laser bounced back and…bounced off the tank and hit a bunch of Anti Guys. Green Guy then shot a bolt at the tank, but it just bounced off. Then the light bulb shot dark lightning bolts everywhere. Kaiper got in her shell and shot at the tank. Toadia then ran in front of her and as she approached her, she lifted Kaiper into the air and she flew onto the tank.

Kaiper got out of her shell. The light bulb and laser cannon both shot at Kaiper. She jumped off the tank. The laser and lightning hit the tank and made a hole in the gold armor. "That's it," said Kaiper, "We can't dent it, but it can." Green Guy then shot a lightning bolt, but it was hit with a dark bolt. Mario then threw his hammer at the bulb while this was happening, and it broke the light bulb! General Guy then popped out of the hole at the top and grabbed Mario's hammer and went back inside.

Mario then pulled out the Star Rod and fought the Anti Guys. Luigi had gotten up and thanks to an Ultra Mushroom was okay. He then charged and jumped on each Anti Guy and did a Super jump to land on the ship. But General Guy saw it coming, and zapped Luigi out of the sky with the laser cannon. Mario then did a Super Jump too, and reflected the laser with the Star Rod. Then as he came to the laser…General Guy jumped out with Mario's hammer and hit him on the head. Mario fell, and General Guy jumped back in. Green Guy took this moment of opportunity to fire a bolt at the laser and destroy it.

The tank then turned towards Green Guy, and charged. Green Guy ran, but the tank was too fast. At the last second Toadia came in and saved Green Guy. Kaiper, meanwhile, was in her shell the whole time knocking out Anti Guys. She then hit the tank and bounced off at the hurt Mario. He hit Kaiper with the Star Rod. Hitting Kaiper with the Star Rod did something. Kaiper started to go faster. She started to glow. Then she went right through the bottom of the tank.

The 5 charged at the holes to get into the tank, but all the Anti Guys rolled in to stop him. Then they all went into the tank. Suddenly Anti Guys started going all over the tank. As the 5 eventually beat all the Anti Guys, they noticed that the Anti Guys had filled all the holes and built a new laser cannon and light bulb. The light bulb then shot bolts all around the tank and they all ran back. Mario and Luigi then both ran and used Super Jumps while Green Guy shot bolts. However, the light bulb had countered Green Guy and the laser hit Mario and Luigi. Toadia and Kaiper then jumped on the tank and were about to take out the laser cannon and bulb when General Guy popped out again and hit them both with Mario's hammer. The 2 fell on the tank. Anti Guys then climbed on top of the tank and began to fight Kaiper and Toadia.

Toadia and Kaiper both tried to jump above them, but the Anti Guys jumped at them and punched them back onto the tank. They then charged and pummeled them. Meanwhile Mario and Luigi were trying to get on the tank but the laser and bulb were shooting at them too much and they didn't know what to do. Green Guy eventually became overpowered by the Shy Guy and was taken out. Suddenly,

"HEY! MARIO!" 

"!" said the 2 bros as they looked up.

Jr. Troopa, the Koopa Bros and Tutankoopa all came flying down at full strength.

"What? But…how?" asked Luigi.

"Heh, after you guys left I remembered that General Guy had hid some items to heal himself in case he lost to you. Luckily he only took 1 so I used the rest to heal us back to full strength."

Mario nodded and then swung the Star Rod at the 6. Energy went into them and they all became more powerful than ever. Mario then used it again to bring Green Guy (who was nearby) back to full strength and powered them all up even more.

"Wow bro! People must be wishing for us a lot! Look at all this energy! Ha ha! Let's go!"

The 9 charged at full strength. Jr. Troopa was transforming from form to form, making clones, then flying around and all of them shooting blasts and the Anti Guys. The Koopa Bros got on top of each other and flew through the Anti Guys. Tutankoopa was just flying around kicking the Anti Guys and was having some trouble. Green Guy used some sort of new ability in which he had a ton of lightning come to his disk. Then He had the lightning split into 10 different bolts and they all went around Green Guy to form a shield and he just ran through shocking anyone that touched him. He then brought all the lightning into a single stretch of lightning and was able to wield it like a sword. He swung it all around him and it was super long and reached far distances. Mario was shooting giant light stars at the Anti Guys and swinging the Star Rod in circles to protect himself. Luigi was swinging his hammer so fast that that he could tunnel into the ground. He did so and while the others distracted the Anti Guys, he charged right at General Guy's tank.

Luigi aimed so he would hit the tank at the bottom corner and aim diagonally. Right when Luigi was about to hit the tank, Green Guy stopped and swung his lightning sword right at the same spot Luigi was hitting it. The 2 forces were so hard that…BOOM! They went right through the tank and made a giant hole. Mario then charged and Luigi stopped and started battling Anti Guys as General Guy looked at the whole shocked. Mario then shot blasts at the fallen Toadia and Kaiper and the 2 quickly got up at full strength and charged.

Despite these advantages, the Anti Guys had built another identical tank and carried General Guy over there while the other one was destroyed. Kaiper noticed something in the tank and had an idea. She then ran to Mario and asked for the Star Rod. Mario was reluctant to, but gave it to her. He held off the Anti Guys as Kaiper ran to the broken tank and was working on it for some reason. Kaiper then screamed as loud as she could, "RUN!" Mario and co. quickly listened and ran away from her. The broken tank started to glow and move. At the last second, Kaiper pulled the Star Rod into her shell and got in their too. White lights began to shine from the tank…BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!! The tank exploded! Everything went flying out of the toy box and even the new tank blew up. Mario and co. stayed at the edge of the box, and Kaiper shot into the nearby wall making a huge hole and fell to the floor with the Star Rod. General Guy flew out of the box screaming, "NOOOOOOOOOO! HOW COULD I LOSE TO THEM AGAIN!? I'LL BE BACK!!" Most of the Anti Guys were hit too and flew out of the box or into the wall.

"H-How?" asked Green Guy.

"Heh," smirked a tired Kaiper, "I noticed that the tank had a self destruct button as we were fighting. I then saw that the tank gathered in energy from wires to convert all of the energy for the lightning bulb and laser all into the center of tank to make a huge explosion. But because the tank was broke, I could see the inside, so I could see the wires that drew in the energy. So, I pushed the button and connected the wires to the Star Rod. Heh, with all that energy, I knew the explosion would be huge."

"Impressive…"

The 11 looked around and found a spring and bounced out of the Toy Box into…the other Toy Box.

"We…we actually did it. I can't believe it," said Luigi.

"Mario!"

"!" said Mario.

Suddenly the 7 Star Spirits flew out of the box.

"Mario, we were trapped in the other tank, but now we are out…thanks to you," said Eldstar.

""

"Yes, everything is okay, so I can take the Star Rod back."

Mario pointed to Kaiper who sadly gave Eldstar the Star Rod back.

"I wanted to examine it too," muttered Kaiper.

"Thank you. Now that the SSS and General Guy have been defeated, we can rest."

Mario and co walked out ready for a rest. They found Bowser and his allies and they all walked out of the Toy Box, tired, but victorious.

"I can't believe we did it," said Kaiper happily. Now I can record info and write books and- NO!"

"Hmm?" said Toadia.

"I was so caught up in the battle I forgot to check behind a Shy Guy's mask!!"

Green Guy laughed.

"What was that Green Guy?"

"uh…"

Green Guy ran ahead and Kaiper chased him.

"Heh heh heh, well bro, I guess we can finally go home."

"Oh yah."

And so they bid farewell to Toadia, Jr. Troopa, Bowser, and the koops and the bros went home.

**2 days later**

Mario and Luigi sat at their house at home.

"Gee bro, I still can't believe we beat all those Anti Guys."

""

"Yah, but you know…I wish that we could get like…a medal or something."

"Mario! Luigi!"

"!" said the 2 as they got up and walked to the door. They opened it to see a Toad.

"Oh Mario bros, I have great news. Princess Peach is hosting a party and it is going on right now. You both are invited as we are celebrating your triumph over the Shy Guys."

"Really! All right! Well then, let's go bro!"

Mario nodded and the 2 went to Peach's Castle.

Inside the Castle, there were snacks and drinks everywhere. Mario and Luigi both took a drink when they noticed Kaiper, Green Guy, and Toadia. They ran over to them and all started talking. Suddenly all the lights went off. Mario and co were pulled somewhere. Suddenly the lights gathered on a door and out walked…Peach! Everybody clapped!

"Ahem, thank you everyone. Thank you. Today we are all gathered to celebrate the defeat of the Shadow Star Spirit, the leader of darkness. We are also here to celebrate the defeat of General Guy and all the Shy Guys that used to terror us. (Applause) But who was it that could defeat both of these dark creatures. Well, please give a round of applause for…MARIO!"

Suddenly Mario and co were pushed in front of Peach to the spotlight. (Loud Applause)

"But it was not just Mario who was able to achieve this greatness. Please give a round of applause to…TOADIA! (Applause) GREEN GUY! (Mild Applause) KAIPER! (Applause) and finally, LUIGI! (Humongous Applause) Now Mario will give an unforgettable speech about his adventure. Mario.

""

"Sniff, I'm so touched," said Taodia.

"What a beautiful speech," said Kaiper.

"Wonderful," said Green Guy.

Mario finished and everybody gave a loud applause to the great speech. Then the lights turned on and Peach walked up and said, "Now, let the party begin!"

Everybody then started to run around and play games and they were all happy.

…

After the long party, everyone went home except for the heroes and Peach.

"Well, I'm gonna go back to Koopa Village and write that book about our adventure," said Kaiper.

"I can't wait to read it," said Green Guy.

"I bet it will be great," said Toadia.

"Why does Kaiper have to be the one to write the book?" asked Luigi.

Kaiper walked up to Luigi and hit him one last time, then left.

"Ow…"

""

"Ah, you noticed Mario. Well, Toadia said that I could live with her and participate in the tournament since I can't go back to the Toy Box."

"Yah…it'll be fun," said Toadia.

"Yah, I can't wait to live with um…you," said Green Guy.

Both Green Guy and Toadia then blushed a bit and looked down.

"Um…well then…good bye guys. We had a great time."

"Yah, bye."

They both walked out leaving Mario, Luigi, and Peach.

"Well, would you two like to stay a bit longer? I would like to give you two some presents for rescuing me. Don't worry, it won't take long."

"Oh boy, I can't wait," said Luigi.

"Okay then, come on upstairs."

Peach walked upstairs and as the 2 followed:

"You know Mario, there's a lot of bad stuff in the world," said Luigi.

""

"Right, no matter how powerful it may be, we shall always prevail so that good triumphs. Besides, now that the SSS and General Guy have been defeated, and Bowser even helped us out, who else can stand up to us?"

The 2 walked upstairs with Peach.

**THE END!!**

**Or is it?**

--Jr. Troopa--

Jr. Troopa slowly walked through the path to Koopa Village.

"Hm, that was kind of fun fighting alongside Mario, but…he's still way stronger than me. Urgh…will I ever beat Mario!? Ever!? He's never lost! There is no way I can win. I would need some great power or sometihng…but…where is that power? Sigh…"

Jr. Troopa looked down sad and walked slowly when suddenly…CRUNCH!

"Hmm? I stepped on something."

Jr. Troopa picked it up and said, "What is this? I…feel…so powerful! Ha ha ha! With this I can surely defeat Mario!"

Jr. Troopa stood there feeling stronger then ever…as he held…the Shadow Star Rod!

Dun dun dun! To see what happens, make sure you read the sequel: Paper Mario: Clash of the Star Rods!


End file.
